Cadime Presents $75M Town Budget

Seekonk Town Administrator Shawn Cadime has presented a budget of $75.2 million for FY’26, which begins July 1. That figure represents a 3.3 percent increase over the current fiscal year.

The largest portion of the budget is education, which totals $35.8 million. Of that amount, $33.7 million is designated for Seekonk Public Schools. That’s a 2.5 percent increase over the current fiscal year. Foundation enrollment is 2, 040 – a decrease of 36 students.

The Tri County Regional School assessment is $2 million, a 44 percent increase. Seekonk represents 8.8 percent of the foundation enrollment, totaling 84 students. The required town contribution is $1 million over a 30 year period. The debt assessment is $635,000.

Cadime warned the Select Board on March 26 of “significant” impacts on the town budget if a debt exclusion for Tri County is rejected on April 7.

“Services and requests for services continue to go up,” Cadime explained. “What we provide from Department of Public Works, Police, Fire, those costs are going up and the community is continuing to grow. The requirements for those services and the demands for those services don’t go away.”

“I think it’s imperative that everyone understands where we’re at today,” said Board member Justin Sullivan. “I can’t emphasize enough how important it is that we pass this debt exclusion for Tri County because it’s going to have a major impact on everything as we go forward.”

The Bristol County Agricultural assessment is $114, 363, a decrease of 12 percent. 11 Seekonk students attend the school.

 Fixed costs and debt service total $17.1 million. The Sanitation Enterprise Fund is $1.95 million, a four percent increase over the current fiscal year. Key highlights include:

• Salary increases across departments are based on contractual obligations.
• No new positions added –Budget does not include any additional staff
•  Town Hall Cost Savings –Office supplies consolidate into a single cost center, reducing costs by $20,000
• $1.3m reduction –Budget reduced from initial department requests
• Department-Wide Cuts –Budget reductions applied across all departments

As for individual departments, General Government is $3.45 million, an increase of two percent.

Public Safety is $12.3 million, a one percent decrease. The Police Department is $5.7 million, a decrease of 0.4 percent. There are 44 full time employees.

The Fire Department budget is $4.8 million, a decrease of 1.6 percent. There are 45 full time employees.

Human Services is $683, 430, a decrease of two percent.

Culture and Recreation is $1.3 million, a one percent increase.

The Town Clerk’s office is $169, 433 – an increase of 5.7 percent.

The Town Treasurer’s office is $164,731, a decrease of five percent.

The entire budget can be viewed at: https://www.seekonk-ma.gov.