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/free-cash-guideline.json
Free cash is 6.65% of the budget, inside the 5% to 7% the Town cites; 7 of the last 10 years fell short.
Free cash against the cited range
Certified, the Town’s fact sheetnot from the booksLow end of the range (ours)our estimateHigh end of the range (ours)our estimate
Certified, the Town’s fact sheet
Low end of the range (ours)
High end of the range (ours)
FY2017
$888,944
$1,747,403
$2,446,364
FY2018
$818,886
$1,838,127
$2,573,378
FY2019
$1,512,483
$1,965,047
$2,751,066
FY2020
$1,107,694
$2,024,134
$2,833,788
FY2021
$1,804,185
$2,126,025
$2,976,435
FY2022
$2,666,962
$2,137,181
$2,992,053
FY2023
$2,923,290
$2,237,138
$3,131,994
FY2024
$1,870,612
$2,377,579
$3,328,610
FY2025
$2,270,060
$2,483,097
$3,476,335
FY2026
$3,354,370
$2,521,033
$3,529,446
The range is the 5% to 7% the Town cites, times the prior-year budget its own fact sheet divides by.
1 · The facts
6.65%
free cash as a share of budget, FY2026, Town’s figure
$50,420,663
the prior-year budget the Town divides by
5% to 7%
the range the Town says the state recommends
7
of the last 10 below 5%, on the Town’s figures
6.55%
the same, against the FY2026 original budget (ours)
our estimate
6.51%
against the revised budget at March 2026 (ours)
our estimate
—
the state’s own guidance on free cash levels
not published
2 · What it shows
1
On the Town’s figures, free cash reached 5% in only 3 of the last 10 years.
2
Against three different budget figures, this year’s share is 6.51% to 6.65%: inside the range each time.
3
The 5% to 7% range reaches this archive only as the Town quoting the state.
Free cash against the budget, the Town’s figures
Year
Certifiednot from the books
Operating budgetnot from the books
Sharenot from the books
FY2026
$3,354,370
$50,420,663
6.65%
FY2025
$2,270,060
$49,661,935
4.57%
FY2024
$1,870,612
$47,551,576
3.93%
FY2023
$2,923,290
$44,742,766
6.53%
FY2022
$2,666,962
$42,743,616
6.24%
FY2021
$1,804,185
$42,520,507
4.24%
FY2020
$1,107,694
$40,482,685
2.74%
FY2019
$1,512,483
$39,300,938
3.85%
FY2018
$818,886
$36,762,549
2.23%
FY2017
$888,944
$34,948,060
2.54%
FY2016
$263,188
$32,452,875
0.81%
As printed in the Free Cash Fact Sheet. Each share recomputes from the two figures beside it to the hundredth of a point.
What was said
“Chris Menard suggests having an analyst review all of the town’s policies on free cash and estimates.”