Ward 5 and friends, 

There will be a Public Forum with the Financial Task Force Wednesday from 7:00 - 8:30pm (tonight!) at the Melrose High School Learning Commons. This is the group which will develop proposals for Proposition 2 ½ override question(s) to be considered in November 2025. Please consider attending to share your input and ideas! If you can’t make it, this event will also be recorded.

As I wrote in my last email, the FY 2026 budget process is expected to require about $6.1 million in cuts, due to costs rising faster than revenues.

One example of this mismatch between costs and revenues is in our 2nd largest budget line, health insurance. Melrose carries the health insurance costs for all employees, City and Schools, in our benefits line. Last year this cost about $14 million. We have received FY 26 estimated increases from the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) and will see an average 12% increase per plan for next year. To cover this increase, while being limited to a 2.5% increase in revenue due to Proposition 2 1/2, we will have to make cuts elsewhere. This pattern is seen across the budget as many of our costs rise faster than 2.5%.

To address this budget gap, the Mayor has formed a Financial Task Force to “take in public feedback and develop potential revenue plans, including seeking a Proposition 2 ½ override question or questions on the November 4, 2025 municipal election ballot.” This is the group that will be meeting tonight.

Key budget links: Melrose budget timeline, FY2026 Budget page (the memorandum series from the Mayor is very helpful here), School Budget details. You can email the Financial Task Force and Grigoraitis administration at budget@cityofmelrose.org 

Thanks for reading.

Best,

Kim Vandiver

City Councilor, Ward 5
kvandiver@cityofmelrose.org
kim@kimformelrose.com / ‪(781) 309-7047‬
https://www.kimformelrose.com/