Burlington Select Board Approves Art Projects, FY27 Budgets in Unanimous Votes

BURLINGTON — February 25, 2026 — Burlington Select Board approves two public art projects and eight departmental budgets as transportation program costs raise alarms. The board voted 4-0 Wednesday to appoint retiring Deputy Police Chief Robert Kirchner, known as "Moose," as a Special Police Officer following 37 years of service, and approved plans to paint a utility box on the town common and install a community-painted mural on the back wall of the Senior Center and Recreation building at 61 Center Street. Finance Director Patrick Moynihan reported the town's FY27 accommodated accounts are tracking at 8.32 percent above the prior year — exceeding the self-imposed 7.5 percent ceiling — largely because a statewide admissions lottery change pushed Burlington's Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational Technical School assessment up 27 percent, a pattern Moynihan said will repeat for three more years. Town Administrator John Danizio told the board the local transportation lift program now averages roughly 3,330 rides per month at an estimated annual cost of $400,000, up from roughly $200,000 two years ago, and that a state per-ride fee offsetting approximately $50,000 annually is set to expire after calendar year 2026.