Dartmouth Finance Committee Reviews $113 Million Draft FY27 Budget With 4.5 Percent Increase

DARTMOUTH — April 16, 2026 — Dartmouth Finance Committee reviews $113 million FY27 budget built on one-time stabilization draws. Finance Director Gary Carreiro and Town Administrator Cody Taber walked the committee through a department-by-department draft budget of approximately $113 million for fiscal year 2027, a roughly 4.5 percent increase over the FY26 approved budget of $108.5 million. The school department settled at a 4.5 percent increase after initially requesting 6.8 percent, with balance dependent on a $100,000 withdrawal from the town's collective bargaining stabilization fund and a separate $178,000 draw from the kindergarten stabilization fund, both requiring two-thirds votes at the June 2 town meeting. Taber was explicit that this year's approach is unsustainable: "There's no way next year we will be able to give the schools 4.5 percent — this year we gave up a lot of our conservancy in revenues." The committee also heard from Planning Director Daniel Gioiosa on proposed amendments to the site plan review bylaw that would allow the Planning Board to grant design standard waivers without routing applicants to the Zoning Board of Appeals, a change driven by the goal of encouraging redevelopment of underused properties ahead of the June 2 town meeting.