Plympton Passes $16.2 Million Budget Using Stabilization Funds, Rejects Health Board Restructuring

PLYMPTON -- May 13, 2026, Plympton town meeting passes a $16.18 million budget and rejects a Board of Health restructuring proposal. Voters at the May 13 annual town meeting unanimously approved the fiscal year 2027 budget, which draws $823,340 from the general stabilization fund to avoid a Proposition 2 1/2 override, a measure Board of Selectmen member Nathaniel Sides called "something of a one-time fix" and warned may not be available in FY2028. The budget's largest lines include $4,624,750 for elementary school costs, a $3,490,183 Silver Lake Regional assessment, and $1,353,349 in police salaries, with supplemental funding from the ambulance fund and free cash bringing the total to $16,179,691. Article 19, which would have authorized the Board of Selectmen to petition the legislature to shift appointment authority over the Board of Health administrative assistant to the Board of Selectmen, failed after Board of Health Chair Brad Cronin called it "a bad solution in search of a non-existent problem" and the board reported a three-to-zero internal vote against it. Voters also approved $200,000 for road resurfacing, $35,000 for a Dennett Elementary School building assessment, and $17,000 in Community Preservation funds for a new pickleball court on Parsonage Road.