SAUGUS Your Local News, Sports and Information Online. Scan & Subscribe! Vol. 28, No.8 -FREEwww.advocatenews.net Published Every Friday A SPECIAL SAUGUS SNOWMAN STAR ATTRACTION: Brackett Cakounes, 7, a first grader at Veterans Early Learning Center, was one of many Saugus residents who got to pose for a photo with a giant snowman that appeared Tuesday (Feb. 24) in the lot outside Miss Rina’s Lil Rascals Childcare Center at 24 Main St. Please see inside for the story. (Courtesy photo of Rick Fail) 781-233-4446 Friday, February 27, 2026 The budget season is officially underway Town Manager Crabtree briefs selectmen on his preliminary spending plan for the 2027 Fiscal Year By Mark E. Vogler T own Manager Scott C. Crabtree has recommended $35.8 million ~ Home of the Week ~ LYNN - REAL Opportunity - GREAT Price in this Mixed-Use property. Second floor residential unit offers 3-4 bedroom and two full baths, large roof deck. Front-to-back store front, ample off street parking off of side street, garage. Interior sprinkler system, rent well below market. Large footprint provides many possibilities. HIGH visibility - HIGH traffic area - HIGH foot traffic! Don’t miss this amazing investment! Offered at $589,900 335 Central Street, Saugus, MA 01906 (781) 233-7300 View all our listings at: CarpenitoRealEstate.com Mid-grade Regular 2.67 3.37 3.73 $3.47 for the School Department for the 2027 Fiscal Year that begins July 1 – about a million dollar increase over the Fiscal Year 2026 budget approved last spring by the Annual Town Meeting. That’s still about $2 million less than the proposed Saugus Public Schools budget recommended by Superintendent Michael Hashem and approved by the School Committee earlier this year. But during his annual unveiling of the preliminary budget in the first floor conference room at Town Hall Tuesday (Feb. 24) morning, Crabtree stressed that the town would be spending considerably more on School Department-related expenses if his proposed spending plan is approved by Town Meeting, which convenes on May 4. He noted that the School Department’s recommended budget doesn’t include close to $30 million in so-called School Department Schedule-19 charges – which includes the health insurance. “The increase does not include the indirect costs paid by the Town on behalf of the School Department and included as part of the total Net School Spending (NSS) calculation required by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE),” Crabtree said, as he read from a four-page budget message that accompanied his proposed budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year. The preliminary spending plan unveiled by the town manager includes municipal general fund operating budgets totaling $88.5 million to go with proposed school spending, which adds up to an estimated $124.3 million in total general fund operating budgets. The $17.2 million for the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds added to the total estimated Expenditure Budget adds up to a total Fiscal Year 2027 expenditure amount of $141.5 million. Selectmen voted unanimously to recommend the town manager’s operating budget, BUDGET SEASON | SEE PAGE 2 Established 1978 Full Service ULS $3.53 9 Order online at angelosoil.com Kerosene Now Available! FLEET CARD Check Out Our LOW PRICES!
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