Find the Money: The Beverly Budget Challenge

"The money is there. They just need to find it."

It's the most common thing people say about the city budget, and it's a fair thing to wonder. So here's the city's actual budget, with a chance to try your hand at it. In fiscal year 2026, Beverly came up about $3.9 million shortsource. See if you can close the gap, and get a feel for what the choice really involves.

A few ground rules, and they're the real ones the city lives with:

Some of the budget is locked. The city legally can't touch it this year. Those boxes explain why, and when it changes.
The rest is services, and almost every dollar is somebody's job. You can cut them, but the cut has consequences.
It has to be permanent money. One-time tricks don't count, because the shortfall comes back every year.

First, what you can't touch

About a quarter of the budget is off the table this year. Not because anyone's hiding it, but because it's already promised, mandated, or billed by someone else. Here's each piece, and when it actually changes.

Now the part you control

This is everything else: the services. Slide to cut. Watch the running total at the bottom of your screen climb toward $3.9 million, and watch what each cut costs in jobs and service. The mayor and council pay is in here too, near the end, so you can try the most popular idea in local politics and see how far it gets you.

Tip: cutting a little from a lot of places adds up faster than gutting one small department.

Make some cuts to begin.

Your total is at the bottom of the screen.