Plympton Finance Committee approves most FY27 budget lines, holds health insurance and regional school votes

PLYMPTON -- March 23, 2026, Plympton's Finance Committee approved the bulk of the town's proposed fiscal year 2027 municipal budget Monday but held two major line items, group health insurance and the Silver Lake Regional School assessment, for a joint session with the Board of Selectmen on April 13. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy told the committee that the Board of Selectmen has proposed raising the town's share of employee health insurance premiums from 50 percent to 65 percent, increasing that budget line from $675,000 to $877,500 and pushing the projected draw from general stabilization to $989,495; the stabilization balance, currently around $1.3 million, is already above the 10 percent cap set by the town's home rule petition, making some drawdown mandatory regardless. Elementary School Committee Chair John Wilhelmsen explained that the Dennett school line's apparent 4.4 percent increase is effectively 2.5 percent once a $94,000 Chapter 70 increase offsets new Bristol Aggie vocational tuition costs. The committee also received an unscheduled briefing that Engine 1, approximately 27 years old, may have an unrepairable pump system, and that Ambulance 2 is being considered for replacement, with the ambulance fund holding $562,774 but $275,000 of that already proposed for FY27 operating costs. The reserve fund was set at $175,000, and road construction was pegged at $200,000, described by the highway superintendent as the absolute minimum given storm damage this winter.