PLYMOUTH — Oct. 27, 2026 — The Plymouth Select Board last Tuesday voted 4-1 to raise liquor license and auto dealer permit fees for 2027, adding a 3% annual escalator for future years on fees not capped by another authorization. Board members also pressed the Plymouth Housing Authority over three Oak Street units that cannot count toward the town’s affordable housing inventory.
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License fees. Senior Staff Assistant Jade Anderton said the town manager’s office found some fees had gone unchanged for upwards of 20 years while moving licenses online. Staff compared Plymouth with Barnstable, Braintree, Dartmouth, Fall River, Taunton, Salem and Wareham. The all-alcohol license, at $1,800 since 1990, rises to $2,800. Wine and malt licenses go from $950 to $2,000, innholder all-alcohol licenses from $1,400 to $3,000, and the farmer series pouring permit from $250 to $1,500. One-day liquor licenses rise from $50 to $100, with a new $75 nonprofit rate. Auto dealer permits go to $200, which staff believe is the statutory cap. The new fees take effect Jan. 1.
Kevin Canty moved to approve the fees as listed for 2027, with a 3% escalator in future years on any fee not statutorily capped by another authorization. The motion passed 4-1, with David Golden voting no. Board members asked staff to explain the increases to license holders in advance.
Oak Street housing. Chris Plourde, executive director of the Plymouth Housing Authority, said all three Oak Street units are occupied by Section 8 voucher holders chosen from a waiting list, but because no lottery was held, the selection did not satisfy the deed requirement. Going forward, as units become vacant, the authority will hold a lottery so new tenants count toward the town’s Subsidized Housing Inventory, Plourde said.
Canty said the project’s total cost came to about $1.2 million to $1.3 million and that the units will not count until new tenants arrive through a lottery. Town Manager Derek Brindisi said the town could ask the authority for a voluntary payment or send a notice demanding money for the missing restriction. The housing authority side replied that it zeroes out its budget each year and that collecting money could hurt the 1,100 tenants it subsidizes. No action was taken.
Brindisi said the three units have not been in the town’s count for some time, and that the most recent count showed about 238 more units needed to reach 10%.
