Canterbury Budget 2026-2027 - Spending Analysis
The Canterbury Budget: Spending Analysis
Posted by the Canterbury Democratic Town Committee
How does our spending stack up? Are we over-spending? Should we be spending less? It's easy to say we should, but if you look at the numbers, the truth can be seen — our budgets are reasonable and we get extremely good value from our spending.
First, let's see where things currently stand, these are the budgets after the June 1st cuts:
Town is up 4.51%, CIP is down 0.12% and EDU is up 2.62% — overall a 2.93% increase.
This is pretty remarkable, given the wild inflation we've had, starting with the COVID years (and yes, "Biden inflation") and now with Trumps Tariffs, War of Choice and his own bouts of inflation (including fuel costs) that are costing average American households thousands of dollars extra each year.
Let's take a look at the evidence. Here's what the last few years of our budgets have looked like.
| Fiscal Year | Town Gov't | CIP | Education | Total Budget | vs. FY19-20 | Cumul. CPI | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | Chg | Budget | Chg | Budget | Chg | Budget | Chg | U.S. CPI | |||
| 2019–20 | $3,025,278 | — | $284,828 | — | $11,582,529 | — | $14,892,635 | — | 2.3% | base | base |
| 2020–21 | $2,956,240 | -2.3% | $263,870 | -7.4% | $11,786,282 | +1.8% | $15,006,392 | +0.8% | 1.2% | +0.8% | +1.2% |
| 2021–22 | $2,805,337 | -5.1% | $319,478 | +21.1% | $11,803,406 | +0.1% | $14,928,221 | -0.5% | 4.7% | +0.2% | +6.0% |
| 2022–23 | $3,134,835 | +11.7% | $487,490 | +52.6% | $11,986,276 | +1.5% | $15,608,601 | +4.6% | 8.0% | +4.8% | +14.5% |
| 2023–24 | $3,287,536 | +4.9% | $451,502 | -7.4% | $12,542,574 | +4.6% | $16,281,612 | +4.3% | 4.1% | +9.3% | +19.2% |
| 2024–25 | $3,461,087 | +5.3% | $513,552 | +13.7% | $12,906,921 | +2.9% | $16,881,560 | +3.7% | 2.9% | +13.4% | +22.7% |
| 2025–26 | $3,592,680 | +3.8% | $505,786 | -1.5% | $13,333,674 | +3.3% | $17,432,140 | +3.3% | 2.7% | +17.1% | +26.0% |
| 2026–27 ★ | $3,754,695 | +4.5% | $505,203 | -0.1% | $13,683,614 | +2.6% | $17,943,512 | +2.9% | 2.6% | +20.5% | +29.3% |
From FY2019-20 through the approved FY2026-27 budget, Canterbury's total spending has grown by 20.5% — a figure that actually comes in below the rate of general inflation over the same period. U.S. consumer prices rose approximately 26% cumulatively between 2019 and 2026, driven largely by the post-pandemic surge that saw annual inflation hit 4.7% in 2021 and 8.0% in 2022 before cooling. In real terms, Canterbury's budget has effectively shrunk — the town is delivering the same services for less purchasing power than it had six years ago. The FY2026-27 increase of 2.93% over the prior year is also in line with, or below, current national inflation. Critics of the budget increase should note that the alternative — holding spending flat — would represent a continued erosion of the town's ability to maintain services, not fiscal prudence.
And the impact on our taxpayers, what did our Mill Rate do during that time:
| Fiscal Year | Mill Rate | Chg from prior year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | 26.40 | +0.76% | |
| 2020–21 | 26.40 | base | |
| 2021–22 | 23.72 | -10.15% | REVAL |
| 2022–23 | 23.00 | -3.04% | |
| 2023–24 | 23.00 | 0.00% | |
| 2024–25 | 23.00 | 0.00% | |
| 2025–26 | 16.76 | -27.13% | REVAL |
| 2026–27 ★ | 17.66 | +5.37% | Approved for second referendum |
And this is the first Mill Rate increase in 7 years!
As you can see in our previous post, the mill rate increase is largely due to needing to catch up for spending down our savings during the previous few years. It's not due to reckless or wild spending.
Vote yes on June 18!
— Canterbury Democratic Town Committee
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