Proposes Solutions for Closing $10-12M Gap Without Layoffs
Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s administration has closed Burlington’s projected $10-12 million FY27 structural budget gap and will be presenting a balanced budget to the Board of Finance and to City Council on May 18th, 2026.
Mulvaney-Stanak said that after months of diligent and difficult work, the administration filled the projected budget gap using a three-part approach that raised revenue, rightsized government, and realized strategic opportunities. Notably, she said at a press conference on Wednesday, the administration balanced the budget without layoffs to filled city positions.
The right-sizing spending reductions are estimated to save $5.7M and include the elimination of 13 vacant positions, the delayed hiring of an additional 14 positions, and a voluntary furlough program. The budget also includes service reductions, including modest changes to the Clerk/Treasurer’s Office hours, reducing the size and scope of certain city-run events, slightly reducing the number of on-site seasonal staff in certain parks, and moving recycling collection services to a private hauler.
“We are extremely proud of this budget,” said Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak. “It reflects my commitment to affordability, equity, and strong fiscal stewardship of public funds. We also maintained our commitment to City employees to offer fair salaries and benefits despite a chronic structural budget gap.”
A solidarity budgeting framework engaged all city departments, city employees, city unions, and city councilors to examine how to reduce operating expenses in FY27 while accounting for the significant reductions made in certain departments in the FY26 budget. The mayor requested departments less impacted by reductions in FY26 to consider more reductions in FY27 to balance the impacts across the city over the last two years.
This shared, all-in approach resulted in a balanced mayor’s budget that sustains core city services while strategically reducing operating expenses, she said, to get Burlington closer to a sustainable budget in the future.
The budget raises revenue in a fair and balanced way, she said. Residents played their part by approving a 5-cent increase on the Police and Fire Tax rate with 70% support by voters on Town Meeting Day in March. This raises $3 million towards helping to balance the budget. This investment allows the city to continue to invest in a comprehensive and responsive community safety system. The estimated municipal tax increase for a median house valued at $353,000 will be $191 for the year. This modest increase keeps the mayor’s promise of delivering a budget that is squarely committed to affordability for local residents.
The budget also proposes increasing collections efforts on unpaid taxes to the city and maintaining the 2.5% gross receipts tax rate. In 2024, the mayor proposed increasing the tax by 0.5% to support general City operations, especially related to community safety and downtown vitality in 2024. Originally proposed to sunset within a year, this 0.5% is estimated to raise $900,000 in FY27. This consumption tax continues to be an important revenue source to help fairly maintain a revenue stream to support the City’s investments in a safe downtown without overburdening local residents with higher taxes.
This marks the third consecutive year the Mulvaney-Stanak administration has closed a multi-million-dollar structural budget gap – part of a long-building imbalance in Burlington’s general fund.
Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak has been adamant that Burlington needs to continue to right-size its government for the long-term fiscal health of the city. This doesn’t mean simply cutting services or raising taxes on residents – it means doing the careful, thoughtful work to build common-sense budgets based on what the City needs.
It means staying ahead of the inevitable financial challenges facing many cities through long-term planning, maintaining strong standards as an employer, and making strategic investments that strengthen the City’s financial position over time – all while simultaneously managing the incredible inflationary pressures on goods and healthcare.
These sound strategies are helping the city narrow its chronic structural budget gap problem and putting Burlington back on a steady course of operating within what we can afford as a city.
Under Burlington’s City Charter, the mayor’s proposed FY27 budget will advance through Board of Finance review before final consideration and a vote by the Burlington City Council on June 15.
Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak is hopeful the collaborative approach her administration took this year will help build support for her balanced budget. While the City Charter does not require Council involvement in the budget process until June, the Mayor made a point of engaging all Councilors earlier and more often throughout the process this year, since January. This provided Councilors with ample opportunities for early and sustained input and engagement on the realities of our budget constraints.
“Balancing the FY27 budget was a monumental effort, but it reflects something many in Burlington can feel: Our city is gaining momentum. My hope is that City Council and I can move through this final phase with the same seriousness, partnership, and shared commitment that brought us to this point – and deliver a budget that keeps Burlington on a stronger, more sustainable path forward,” Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak said.
5.13.2026. BURLINGTON, VT – Mayor. Photo courtesy mayor's office.
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