The Salem City Council adopted a $223,117,343 operating budget for fiscal 2027 on Thursday, June 11 by a vote of 10 to 0, with Ward 6 Councillor Katelyn Holappa absent, after a week of departmental hearings. The adopted figure is $67,700 below the amount the mayor submitted. The night’s longest debate was not over the operating budget but over the $5.7 million short-term capital plan, where Ward 5 Councillor Lydia King tried something she said no one in the room could remember a councilor doing: striking individual line items.
Drones out, Pioneer Village in
King moved to remove $41,667 for a police “drones as first responders” program and $200,000 under the building department for relocating Pioneer Village, the 1930 living history site at Forest River Park, saying both had drawn considerable community feedback. She pointed to the Lynn City Council’s vote the same week to reject that city’s entire budget over community priorities, and said the city solicitor had confirmed that morning that the council can delete items from the capital plan because of its funding source, though not from every part of the budget. “We need to not be afraid of having hard conversations about the budget,” she said.
Ward 2 Councillor Andrew Smith said he had spoken with the mayor and Police Chief Miller, that both were open to pulling the drone item, and that the $41,667 was the first of three annual city match payments for a grant that would not lapse until next year. Ward 4 Councillor Timothy Flynn, with 30 years in public safety, argued for keeping it: “We could save lives.” The council voted 8 to 2 to remove the drone line, with Flynn and Councillor-at-Large Conrad Prosniewski opposed, bringing the capital plan to $5,681,674.
The Pioneer Village motion failed on a 5 to 5 tie, with Councillors-at-Large Kyle Davis and Prosniewski, King, Smith and Ward 7 Councillor Andrew Varela in favor and Flynn, Councillor-at-Large Ty Hapworth, Ward 3 Councillor Jason Sydoriak, Ward 1 Councillor Erin Turowski and Council President Alice Merkl opposed. King said too much time had passed since the community meetings on the move, that its effect on the YMCA camp at Forest River Park “literally was news to me this week,” that the village brings in revenue with no staff, including about $40,000 a year from the Night Fair run by Black Veil Tattoo Studio, which she said is not guaranteed to continue at a new site, and that the city has never published a full breakdown of how the move would be funded. The amended capital plan passed 9 to 1, Prosniewski opposed.
The budget
Department budgets adopted include $15,286,379 for police, $11,920,064 for fire and $888,391 for planning. The enterprise funds, as amended, total $22,106,738, and the council adopted the fiscal 2027 revolving fund list, $1,080,000 for water and sewer capital projects and $1,000,000 from free cash to the capital fund, all 10 to 0. The Community Preservation Act budget of $1,212,675 and $1,157,760 in CPA project awards also passed 10 to 0.
Ranked choice voting
The council voted 10 to 0 to send the Legislature a home rule petition that would let Salem adopt ranked choice voting for local elections, subject to a citywide vote. Turowski, who chairs the Committee on Government Services, said the committee chose proportional rather than sequential counting for multi-seat races, “the gold standard in other municipalities,” and set the trigger for ranked counting at more candidates than seats rather than twice the number of seats. Board of Registrars member Dr. Alexander Pinero-Shields spoke in favor; member Donald Bates was undecided and raised the narrow statewide split in 2020. “There is nothing more democratic than letting the people of Salem pick the voting system of their choice,” one councilor said in closing.
Also at the meeting
- On Hapworth’s order, the July and August regular meetings were combined into one on July 9, by a 7 to 3 vote with Davis, King and Varela opposed. Varela said “we talk about this every year” and that September always ends up overloaded; Hapworth said it is not a summer off and that special meetings remain available.
- Brittany Dove was appointed assistant city clerk, Krystle Brown’s appointment to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board was held, and Jessica Crescimano was appointed to the Cultural Council.
- $75,000 went to Public Services for emergency water main work, $11,000 from free cash to Salem’s 400th anniversary celebration and $11,000 from Witch House receipts.
- Fire lanes on Beach and Sutton avenues received first passage, and the fiscal 2027 trash, water and sewer rate ordinances moved toward final passage on June 25.
The minutes, with every department line, are here.
