Officials in Burlington, Vermont, are beginning to draft the Fiscal Year 2027 spending plan, and the mayor says the city is facing a significant budget gap for the third year in row.
Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, a Progressive, reported Thursday the city faces challenging decisions as they draft the 2027 budget.
“Burlington is facing yet another structural budget gap and this time we estimate it will be roughly between $10 to $12 million for Fiscal Year ’27. I want to emphasize that this is not a one year anomaly. We have seen structural budget gaps over the last few years and it reflects a larger challenge that has been building over time within the city's general fund operating budget.”
The city faced a nearly $13 million gap in the 2025 budget and a $9.8 million shortfall in the 2026 budget. Closing those gaps included passing slight increases in taxes, merging departments, laying off some city workers and keeping positions vacant, and increasing fees for parking and programs including summer camps. The latest gap, according to Mulvaney-Stanak, is due to three factors.
“The city grew increasingly dependent on one time funds or short term funding sources. The second issue is the city grew the size of its workforce and services significantly prior to my administration, which added programs. Some of those were very important and significant and things that we continue to need. And the third piece that led to these structural budget challenges include the city has been sluggish in its growth with our grand list. And we also have a limited tax base in terms of what is taxable land within the city of Burlington.”
Chief Administrative Officer Katherine Schad provided an overview of the projected budget and initial options to close the gap.
“We are not just going to rely on increasing property taxes. We do have a mix of cutting expenses and raising revenues. We are pursuing a five-cent increase to the police and fire tax that would raise about $3 million towards filling that 10 to $12 million gap. Clearly five cents is not going to fill that gap entirely but it does get us closer towards meeting the budgetary need that's outlined here.”
Schad says they are working to identify new revenue sources.
“We are pursuing other options, That is prioritizing our core essential services. Also leveraging city assets that could be put to better use and then other sustainable sources of income. Some of those may be strategic, one-time revenue options and we will be exploring many other options.”
Next Monday, the Burlington City Council will consider placing the 5-cent increase in the police and fire tax rate on the Town Meeting Day ballot.
