Charlie BreitroseWatertown City Hall
The Fiscal Year 2024 budget approved by the City Council Tuesday night includes an additional $3.6 million to cover the amount owed to a police officer who won a sexual discrimination suit by the City. Watertown’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget includes several new positions in the Planning Department, Health Department and to create a new Constituent Services program. It also includes funds for the Watertown High School project, and to make the City’s buildings and vehicles more energy efficient. The total FY 2024 operating budget will be $194,013,029 after the Council approved an amendment to put an additional $3,699,029 into the budget, moving it from the Free Cash fund into the Settlement Account, said City Manager George Proakis. In November 2022, a Middlesex Superior Court jury sided with Kathleen Donohue, the first female detective in the WPD, in her civil suit against the Watertown Police Department.