Department budgets
Town departments
lunenburgbudgetproject.org — written by the Lunenburg Budget Project, an independent tool for residents. Not affiliated with the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee or the school district. The data this page is computed from: /data/topics/department-budgets.json
Town Meeting voted $44,024,349 across twelve groups for FY2025; the schools are 57.1%. Ranked by dollars past the 2.5% levy cap, employee benefits push the budget hardest, then the schools.
- Schools$25,127,554 · 57.1%
- Protection of persons & property$4,643,717 · 10.5%
- Employee benefits & reserves$4,293,123 · 9.8%
- Maturing Debt & Interest$2,941,322 · 6.7%
- Public Works$2,225,277 · 5.1%
- General Government$2,177,964 · 4.9%
- Facilities & Grounds$1,022,711 · 2.3%
- Library$583,890 · 1.3%
- Solid Waste & Recycling$469,775 · 1.1%
- Assistance$340,898 · 0.8%
- Health & Sanitation$117,819 · 0.3%
- Central Purchasing$80,300 · 0.2%
1 · What is voted
$44,024,349
voted for twelve groups, FY2025
57.1%
of it to the schools
84.1%
in the four largest groups
$49,374,465
voted for FY2026; the report prints no department table
2 · How it grows
2.5%
a year the levy may rise, before new growth
law
10 of 12
groups growing faster than the cap
$438,870
benefits, a year above the cap (ours)
our estimate
$284,306
schools, a year above the cap (ours)
our estimate
$1,556,402
less for debt service, FY2025 than FY2023
3 · What is not shown
8
town departments printing a staff count
—
each department’s budget request
not published
—
whether any service was reduced
not published
4 · What it adds up to
- 1
Schools are 57.1% of the FY2025 voted budget; four groups are 84.1% of it.
- 2
By dollars past the cap, benefits push hardest ($438,870 a year), then the schools ($284,306).
- 3
10 of 12 groups grew faster than the cap from FY2023 to FY2025.
- 4
Debt service fell $1,556,402 while the total still rose.
- 5
A voted budget is already balanced: requests and service levels are not in it.
- 6
8 town departments print a staff count, in forms that cannot be added.
The whole budget
Budget by department
Schools are 57.1% of the $44,024,349 Town Meeting voted for FY2025; the next three groups together are 27.0%.
Growth above the cap
Ranked by dollars above the 2.5% levy cap, employee benefits push the budget hardest, then the schools.
Voted budget total
The voted total was $44,024,349 for FY2025 and $49,374,465 for FY2026, a 12.2% rise.
The four largest
Schools in the omnibus
The schools are 57.1% of the voted budget and grew 3.6% a year, FY2023 to FY2025.
Police, fire and inspectors
Police, fire and the inspectors were voted $4,643,717 for FY2025, 10.5% of the budget.
Employee benefits
Employee benefits grew 12.7% a year, the most dollars past the cap of any group; group health is 71% of it.
Debt service
Debt service fell from $4,497,723 to $2,941,322, FY2023 to FY2025, the only one of the twelve groups to fall.
The other departments
General government
The town’s own administration grew 10.2% a year, $168,340 past the cap in dollars, third of the twelve.
Public works
Public works grew 2.9% a year, close to the cap; one line rose more than the whole group.
Facilities and grounds
Facilities and grounds were voted $1,022,711 for FY2025 and grew 7.5% a year.
Trash and recycling
Trash and recycling grew 22.6% a year, the fastest of the twelve, from $312,634 to $469,775.
Library budget
The library was voted $583,890 for FY2025, 1.3% of the budget, growing 8.8% a year.
Smaller departments
Veterans and elder services, health, and central purchasing are 1.2% of the budget together.
People
Related pages
Town unspent balance
In June, before the close, town departments stood $858,462 under a $27,647,670 budget.
Also under FY2026 closeout
Snow and Reserve Fund
Snow removal paid $1,038,092 against $355,571 voted; the $185,000 Reserve Fund paid nothing.
Also under FY2026 closeout
School retiree insurance
An account named for school retiree health paid $1,262,376 from the town’s insurance department.
Also under FY2026 closeout
Monty Tech assessment
Lunenburg’s FY2026 Monty Tech bill was $1,334,521; 95.2% of it is a minimum the state sets.
Also under Enrolment