Burlington Select Board approves eleven FY 2027 budgets in unanimous votes

BURLINGTON — March 9, 2026 — Burlington Select Board unanimously approves eleven FY 2027 departmental budgets and grants a new all-alcohol license to Gameshow Battle Rooms at Burlington Mall. The board voted 5-0 on all items at its March 9 regular session, with Assistant Town Administrator Patrick Lawlor presenting budgets ranging from a 0.32 percent reduction in the Building Department to a 3.32 percent, or $30,379, increase in Technology. A new $100,000 operating capital line in the capital improvements budget marks the start of an effort to diversify funding sources beyond borrowing and free cash, toward a stated target of 12 percent of the combined town-school operating budget for debt service and cash capital. Town Administrator John Danizio reported the police station project's favorable bids have reduced planned permanent borrowing from $41 million to just over $34 million — roughly $7 million in savings against the $46 million project budget. A one-day liquor license for Wonder Restaurant was postponed after board members found the submitted floor plan too unclear to show where beer would be served at a planned April 9 grand opening. Gameshow Battle Rooms, a 19-location national chain opening its first Massachusetts location at the mall space between Fiorella's and Shake Shack, received its all-alcohol license 5-0 after a brief public hearing at which no members of the public commented, with a target opening of approximately July 1.