North Andover Presents $143 Million FY27 Budget With No New Programs

NORTH ANDOVER — February 25, 2026 — North Andover Finance Committee hears FY27 budgets built on Amazon growth and override expectations. Town Manager Melissa presented a $143 million municipal budget — up 4.5 percent — with health insurance rising approximately $1.5 million against a total municipal operating increase of only $1.1 million, forcing roughly $800,000 in cuts including a $35,000 school composting program, a fire captain position cut for the second consecutive year, and $125,000 from police overtime and small capital. The town's $3.7 million in levy capacity, attributable to Amazon's personal property and real estate taxes, is reserved for Kittredge School renovation debt and a proposed Fire Station 3, both heading to May Town Meeting. Superintendent Leif presented a school budget of $73,705,289 — $1.5 million above the town-funded $72.2 million that will appear in the warrant — bridged by drawing on circuit breaker reimbursement reserves built up for the first time this year. School Committee Chair Joe Hicks stated the school committee has taken a formal stance in favor of pursuing a Proposition 2.5 override in 2027, saying class sizes would rise dramatically without one; Finance Committee members pressed on whether the circuit breaker strategy replicates past spending patterns that had no durable funding source, with Hicks acknowledging: "We did have some bad things happen — we had to come to you for money from the Finance Committee reserve two years in a row."