June 4, 2026

This was a special meeting called solely for the presentation of the FY2027 budget. Most substantive deliberation will happen in upcoming Finance Committee meetings. Council President Davis presided; Mayor Wilson presented the city budget, and Superintendent Carmona presented the school budget.

Votes & Decisions

FY2027 General Fund Operating Budget ($376,778,493) – Referred to Finance Committee

Mayor Wilson presented a $394M total operating budget (3.3% increase) that he described as "slightly less than level service." The city faced a $5.4M shortfall closed through reserves ($14M+ for debt buydown and capital), 5% non-personnel cuts citywide, elimination of 16 vacant positions, and 13 layoffs of filled positions. Wilson said the cuts were spread across salary grades and that staff "cannot sustain unrequested additions" given the layoffs. He noted the state legislature did not pass the Municipal Empowerment Act, which would have brought $1.8M in additional revenue.

Enterprise Fund and CPA Appropriations – Referred to Finance Committee

Six related appropriations were grouped and referred to the Finance Committee:

• $794,782 Kennedy School Pool Enterprise Fund

• $237,500 Dilboy Fields Enterprise Fund

• $238,791 from Kennedy Pool retained earnings

• $86,200 from Dilboy Fields retained earnings

• $8,367,344 in CPA revenue

• FY2027 departmental revolving fund expenditure limits

School Department Budget ($122.5M) – Placed on File

Council President Davis and Councilor Clingan both recused themselves (Davis cited a conflict of interest). The school budget represents an 8,600,000 increase (7.58%), which the mayor called the "largest dollar investment increase" in district history. The proposal includes 5 new special education teachers, 4.5+ new instructional coaches/math interventionists, $600K more for substitutes, and expansion of the Working on Womanhood program. Free MBTA passes for grades 7-12 are preserved year-round.

Key Discussions

School Committee's Additional $645K Request

The School Committee's Finance Subcommittee voted on May 20 to add $645K (six additional interventionist positions) beyond what the district requested. Mayor Wilson did not include this in his proposed budget, saying "in a year where we had to resort to laying off city staff, we simply cannot sustain unrequested additions."

Councilor Scott raised a procedural concern: he and Councilor Wheeler both spoke with the law department and confirmed Somerville has not adopted the optional MGL Ch. 44 §32 provision that would allow the council to vote to approve a higher school committee number. Scott stated bluntly: "the only action the city council could take to force a change would be a vote to reject the entire budget or perhaps a large enough vote to reduce the budget" to require resubmittal. The law department was asked to formally confirm.

Police Budget, Core, and Civilian Oversight

Councilor Scott pressed the mayor on why cuts largely passed over the police department. He noted that CORE (clinician co-response) salaries were moved to a separate budget line — Wilson said this was intentional to build "trust" that CORE investments stay with CORE. Scott observed that when accounting for moved positions and pending union contracts (SPSOA and patrol officers), the police budget could see roughly a $600K effective increase — "hard for me to square with the $600,000 request from the school department." He also referenced a 2023 staffing study recommending elimination of 8 sworn officer positions that has not been implemented.

Wilson announced a new Police Accountability Program Director position (grant-funded from the RSJ fund, October 1 start) to launch civilian oversight of police, targeting January for the body to be operational. Scott noted concern that this director's salary is "20% less than the most junior newly hired police officer" — Wilson clarified the figure reflected a prorated salary due to the late start date.

Student Resource Officer / Student Liaison Officer at the High School

Councilor Ewen-Campen raised constituent concerns about a possible reversal of the school committee's earlier decision to end the full-time School Resource Officer (SRO) program at the high school. Superintendent Carmona said the Student Liaison Officer (SLO) model — specially trained officers based off-site — remains "on the table" and that no MOU was completed under the previous administration. Carmona said he wants an agreement that addresses safety needs while ensuring students "don't end up in a criminalized track." Ewen-Campen said he hopes the district moves toward the SLO model.

Reorganization: Racial and Social Justice Becomes "Equity and Belonging"

The Racial and Social Justice Department is being renamed and restructured under a new Operations and Systems department to "weave equity into all of our work." The ADA Coordinator moves to HR (renamed "People Operations"), the Public Safety for All Project Manager moves to the Mayor's Office, and a new Police Accountability Program Director also sits in the Mayor's Office. Councilor Hardt and Councilor Strezo asked how accountability and metrics will work; Wilson pointed to the resurrected SomerStat performance measurement team to track KPIs.

New Engagement and Neighborhood Services Division

Councilor Mbah questioned whether expanding communications was the right priority given the city already maintains "north of 94" social media accounts and over 50 newsletters. Wilson said the new division (built from existing staff in SOIA, Economic Development, and Comms) is designed to reach residents who don't read email newsletters — meeting people "where they're at," via WhatsApp or in person. He acknowledged the city had to scale back the launch and made three cuts within the Comms department.

Reserves, Debt, and Long-Term Outlook

Budget Director Mike Mastroboni explained the use of $9M in reserves to avoid long-term borrowing this year and $5M for capital projects (West Somerville Neighborhood School roof, DPW Building roof, Argenziano boilers, Healy School Room 208). Finance Director Edward Bean noted reserves are at roughly 36% of revenues (target is 30%), and Standard & Poor's reaffirmed the city's AAA bond rating Monday. New growth revenue has dropped roughly 75% from peak years, projected at just $5M for FY27. Mastroboni called this "the smallest budget growth since I started working here more than a decade ago."

Affordable Housing

Councilor Strezo asked about affordable housing. Wilson said he met with the state Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities and wants to focus on deeply affordable and family-sized units. He previewed an upcoming initiative to potentially satisfy the 20% inclusionary zoning requirement through FAR to allow more family-sized units, and hinted at plans for the city-owned site in Gilman Square ("we own that outright").

Teen Programming and High School After-Hours Access

Wilson announced new teen programming space at the TAB (replacing the former Edgerly teen center displaced by Winter Hill School relocation) and expressed support for opening Somerville High School to community use after hours, calling it "a gem of a high school" that cost "280 some million dollars."

School Budget Transparency Concerns

Councilor Strezo expressed serious concerns about the level of detail in the school budget presentation, noting she had requested in March that the school budget mirror the city's format. She asked about per-department supply impacts (culinary, carpentry, electrical, nurses' offices). CFO Bobby Beretta explained the schools currently budget through Excel and are procuring "My Budget File" software ($15K implementation, $12K annual) to enable a true budget book. The full PDF budget book will publish mid-to-late June.

City Clerk Reporting Structure

Council President Davis sought clarification after concerns from colleagues about reorganization charts. Wilson confirmed the City Clerk and all staff in the clerk's office continue to report to the City Council, not the CAO. The clerk's grouping with Operations and Systems is for meeting/coordination purposes only.

Notable Moments

• Wilson on layoffs: "We cut based on positions, not people... This step was taken because it was necessary to close the shortfall." He acknowledged "losing a total of 29 positions will have impacts."

• Councilor Clingan: "This is the first budget that I've ever been through where there's been cuts... Usually it's like Bretton Circus. Everybody's cheering after every applause line." He thanked the team for the work despite the difficult circumstances.

• Councilor Wheeler on trust: Emphasized that hard questions from councilors and the public are "an investment in this trust" — not a nuisance.

• Councilor Sait: Pledged to ask every department whether positions were consolidated and how workloads are being affected.

• Superintendent Carmona highlighted a 25% increase in students attending Bunker Hill Community College and the highest-ever rating from the state Department of Education for K-8 multilingual learner programs.

What's Next

• The public budget hearing is Wednesday, June 10 at 6:00 PM (online).

• Finance Committee will hold three nights of department-by-department budget review.

• The law department will provide a formal opinion on whether Somerville can adopt MGL Ch. 44 §32 in time to act on the school committee's recommendation.

• The school department's full budget book will be published mid-to-late June.

• A Davis Square neighborhood plan update is expected "very soon."

• Civilian police oversight body targeted for January launch.