Dartmouth Police Department Seeks $60,000 Staffing Study in FY27 Budget Request

Finance Committee · Meeting of February 5, 2026

Dartmouth Police Department requests $60,000 staffing study as FY27 budget proposal shows 1.6% overall increase. Police Chief Brian Levesque told the Finance Committee Thursday that no professional staffing study has ever been conducted in the department's more than 100-year history, despite police salaries consuming roughly 70% of the operating budget. The department's proposed budget includes a 12% increase in dispatcher costs, 10 percentage points of which reflect a new dispatcher position added to address years of burnout and vacancy-driven coverage gaps.

The department anticipates turning back significant unspent funds at fiscal year-end due to officer vacancies, while overtime is expected to run $50,000 to $80,000 over budget. Committee member Deirdre F. Welch backed the study, arguing the annual return of hundreds of thousands of unspent dollars to the town makes setting evidence-based staffing levels urgent.

Town Administrator Cody Haddad reported separately that the governor's budget proposes just a 1.7% local aid increase for Dartmouth — far below the expected 4.4% — and cautioned that state 9C mid-year cuts remain possible if revenue growth does not improve.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of February 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.