By Dakota Antelman – [email protected]
Town Manager Kerry Lafleur said officials may be ready to change course after proposed service cuts for the 2026 fiscal year sparked widespread concern.
The previous plan would have slashed Sunday hours at the Concord Free Public Library and trimmed the fire department’s overtime budget, among other things.
Lafleur said a new budget would not be ready until later in the week at the earliest. But at Monday’s Select Board meeting, she said staff hope to restore some of the library and fire department reductions “based on some additional work that we have done.”
“We do believe that we have a bit of good news,” she said.
Lafleur said departments are still facing “significant cuts” following a Finance Committee recommendation that capped the upcoming overall budget increase at 2.85% compared with the 2025 FY budget.
The town would trim at least 2.5 full-time equivalent positions.
“People are not going to have the same flexibility in their budgets going forward,” Lafleur told The Concord Bridge.
By adjusting the budget, though, Lafleur said staffers are trying to preserve services and focus reductions on internal functions that don’t interact directly with the public.
Library anxiety
The suggested library cut would extend summer Sunday closures year-round. It would save roughly $44,000, according to town chief financial officer Anthony Ansaldi.
One day before Lafleur’s new remarks, Sunday library patrons were anxious.
“We’re a literary town,” said Richard Smith. “As a literary town, we should have a library seven days a week.”
As organizers set up for a poetry event, Smith said Sundays are a prime day to host events for people who are busy during the workweek.
A few steps down the main corridor, teenagers studied at a table overlooking the library children’s area. Parents with young kids trickled into the space. A few children browsed displays of board books while their parents watched.
Amity Wilczek acknowledged Concord’s high cost of living but said the savings from a Sunday closure “seems pretty minimal.”
She said the library system is an “incredibly high priority” and that she hoped the town would change course.
As Beth Brownlow perused the books, she said she’s “very concerned” about Concord’s rising tax rates but said the closure “seems like a silly way to save money.”
Edward Londner said the change would hit families especially hard.
Unlike some other library patrons, he said he’s not concerned about Concord’s cost of living. Local taxes, he said, “go to good purposes that are obvious to the people that live here.”
Seeking alternatives
Town departments have braced for cuts since FinCom set its guideline late last year. Committee members cited rising tax rates and the risk of a future budget override as reasons for their stringent recommendation.
As the budget process began, Lafleur said department heads first delivered budgets with no service cuts. Staff had to cut roughly $600,000 from those budgets to hit the target.
Ansaldi presented preliminary reductions on February 10. In an interview, fire chief Thomas Judge said the overtime reduction could force the fire department to lower its minimum staffing.
Among other reductions, the February 10 plan floated staffing cuts.
Town Manager’s office
As Concord’s budget crunch persists, critics have noted staffing in the Town Manager’s office as a target for cuts. Lafleur has pushed back on claims of overstaffing, highlighting positions created by Town Meeting votes outside the budget cycle, among other things.
At a February 27 meeting, FinCom member John Garofalo said the panel should seek data comparing Concord’s headcount against staffing in other communities.
FinCom chair Eric Dahlberg said the committee will include new comparisons in its upcoming annual report.
“So that’s a start,” he said.
Lafleur said she and Ansaldi plan to present a final draft of their budget to the Select Board on March 24.
Any budget must pass at Town Meeting to take effect.
