City Council approves Mayor’s FY26 $286.7M Municipal Budget

Advocate Staff Report

The Revere City Council approved and adopted Mayor Patrick Keefe’s proposed $286.7 million municipal budget for Fiscal Year 2026 at their meeting this week. The budget — built with $107 million in Chapter 70 state funding for public schools and nearly $13 million in unrestricted government aid — is roughly $12 million more than last year. Councillors asked no questions and made no comments, and there were no calls for reductions or changes.

Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro thanked fellow councillors and department heads for participating in a streamlined budget review process that took place over two days. Cogliandro, who arranged the new budget hearing schedule, in part to spare department heads from a night meeting after a full day on the job, invited anyone who had any ideas on how to make the budget process more efficient to reach out.

Council approves spending $140K for annual Sand Sculpting Festival security

The City Council voted this week to spend $140,000 of the city’s free cash to support the Sand Sculpting Festival police details, but it wasn’t easy. Mayor Patrick Keefe, who was at this week’s council meeting, explained that the city has always used free cash to support the event, which is organized by the nonprofit group the Revere Beach Partnership. This year, the cost of a state police detail has shot up to $220,000 and the city has stepped in to cover that bill. The city did receive an $89,000 public safety grant from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission specifically for the Sand Sculpting Festival to help pay for the police details.

Councillors took turns expressing their appreciation of the Sand Sculpting Festival and what it’s done for the city. “Twenty-five years ago, we had such a bad reputation people wouldn’t come here,” said Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, referring to the days of “severe Revere.” McKenna said the Sand Sculpting Festival changed the concept of Revere.

Keefe called the festival “emblematic of Revere as the home of the first public beach,” and other councillors felt the event made the city a family destination.

And so it was a surprise when Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto proposed a substitute motion to allocate $120,000 for the Sand Sculpting Festival. Zambuto said he loves the festival and does what he can personally to support it. But he said the event organizers have rejected donations from a local company that donated heavily during the early years of the event. Zambuto said the company had stepped in with a $10,000 donation when the event was nearly broke. He said his call for a $20,000 cut in funding was symbolic and organizers need to “remember where they came from.”

While Keefe said he understood Zambuto’s reasoning, it was not enough to sway the council. Councillors voted to reject Zambuto’s motion to cut $20,000 from the appropriation. They voted to spend $140,000 of free cash to support the Sand Sculpting Festival.