Council Adopts Pet Shop Ban, Reviews $226M Budget
Watertown City Council banned commercial pet store sales and reviewed a $226 million budget plan flagging a pension cost spike.
City Council · Meeting of April 14, 2026
Watertown City Council banned commercial pet store sales and reviewed a $226 million budget plan flagging a pension cost spike. The city manager unveiled a $226.2 million fiscal 2027 budget, saying a pension contribution recalculation to $12,013,051 forced the city to delay deposits into middle school, Watertown Square and land acquisition reserve funds. "The auditor and I are concerned by how much these numbers keep changing," the manager said.
Councilor Nicole Gardner's ordinance banning retail sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits passed unanimously after a Pet Advocacy Network representative urged a no vote. Councilors also approved, 9-0, a $1 million loan order for Mount Auburn Street work, and Council President Mark S. Sideris warned Eversource it has delayed the high school project "by months." State Senator William Brownsberger said his advocacy brought Watertown $21.7 million in added state school aid since 2012.
In the full story:
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Source: the City Council meeting of April 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.
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