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-redirect.json
Kept above the 5% floor, $794,872 could be redirected, $137,659 short of the FY2028 gap (our arithmetic).
The redirect against the gap
Certified by the stateOur arithmeticour estimate
Certified by the state
Our arithmetic
Certified, July 2025
$3,354,370
not published
Above the floor
not published
$794,872
Gap, FY2028
not published
$932,531
Above the floor is what stays after keeping 5% of the budget; the gap is the model’s projection.
1 · The facts
$794,872
free cash above 5% of the budget (ours)
our estimate
$932,531
the projected school gap, FY2028 (ours)
our estimate
$137,659
what the redirect leaves short that year (ours)
our estimate
$2,205,046
the projected gap, FY2030 (ours)
our estimate
$817,576
capital work lost, plan’s ranking held (ours)
our estimate
$796,203
capital work lost, queue re-ranked (ours)
our estimate
1.21 times
the redirect, against free cash into capital, FY2026
our estimate
$2,026,212
certified if unspent money were at its average (ours)
our estimate
4.0%
of the budget, in that case (ours)
our estimate
2 · What it shows
1
Kept to the 5% floor, $794,872 could be redirected; that is $137,659 short of the FY2028 gap.
2
All $3,354,370, guideline ignored, covers FY2028 and FY2029; FY2030’s gap is $2,205,046.
3
The redirect is 1.21 times what free cash gave capital in FY2026; $796,203 to $817,576 of work stops.
4
Had unspent money sat at its 2021-2024 average, free cash would be 4.0% of the budget: under the floor.
What was said
“The options discussed included a multi-year override or utilizing one-time funds specifically free cash as a stopgap, however these funds should not be used in an operating budget, but as a one-time appropriation.”