South Shore News...letter: Blizzard, Budgets, and a Broken System: The South Shore's Rough Week
It was a week that started with a historic nor’easter and ended with communities across the South Shore staring at the same unforgiving math: expenses running well ahead of revenues, state aid falling further behind, and the fiscal tools that used to work beginning to show their limits. From Plymouth to Rockland to Whitman, town administrators this week weren’t just talking about tight budgets — they were talking about structural problems that overrides, free cash draws, and creative accounting can paper over for only so long. Meanwhile, the storm itself provided an unplanned stress test for municipal emergency operations, and the aftermath — more than 250,000 customers without power and mutual aid requests flowing in from 90+ communities — was a reminder that resilience costs money too.
Cutting across the budget headlines was a landmark report from the state Inspector General that should be required reading for every school business administrator on the South Shore. The OIG’s new special education transportation study documents what many finance directors have suspected for years: the system is structurally stacked against districts. At $13,825 per rider — versus $1,045 for general education — and a circuit breaker that reimbursed transportation at only 61% last year instead of the statutory 75%, the state is pushing costs down to communities that can least afford to carry them. It’s the same theme playing out in every budget hearing right now, just from a different angle.
The Storm: From State of Emergency to Cleanup
Governor Healey declared a State of Emergency Sunday ahead of a nor’easter that delivered up to two feet of snow and 70 mph wind gusts to coastal South Shore communities. She activated 200 National Guard members and directed all non-emergency state employees to work from home Monday as MassDOT warned that snowfall rates of 2–4 inches per hour would outpace plow capacity during the storm’s peak. By Sunday night, Healey signed an executive order banning non-essential travel in Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable counties, with exemptions for public safety, utility workers, healthcare personnel, and essential services. The ban was lifted at noon Tuesday, though the state of emergency remained in effect, 251,000 customers across southeastern Massachusetts were still without power, and MEMA had fielded more than 90 municipal assistance requests. Vermont snow removal crews arrived Tuesday morning to help with the backlog. The MBTA ran on reduced Sunday schedules; commuter rail remained on storm service through Tuesday.
The Fiscal Picture: Healthcare Costs Are the Story Everywhere
The week’s most consequential budget news came from Plymouth, where Town Manager Derek Brindisi laid out a $343 million FY27 budget proposal that had originally faced a $9 million shortfall. The driver: a $5.1 million spike in health insurance premiums — a 14% increase — hitting at the same moment that “new growth” from Pine Hills and Redbrook is beginning to plateau. To balance the books, the administration cut eight additional firefighter positions, two police cruisers, $400,000 in road improvements, and eight IT personnel — this last cut coming despite reports that town systems now handle 63 million suspicious emails annually. Excess levy capacity has dropped to roughly $2 million, leaving the town with shrinking room to maneuver in future emergencies without an override.
Rockland officials put an even sharper point on the same problem in a joint session with state legislators. Town Administrator Doug Lapp called the Governor’s proposed 0.87% local aid increase “crippling” for a community facing a 19.7% health insurance spike and rising retirement assessments. Select Board Chair Michael O’Loughlin said he had “never been this discouraged coming out of a budget discussion,” adding that Beacon Hill has become “tone-deaf” to suburban communities — and separately criticizing the state’s redirection of cannabis Host Community Agreement revenue, which he estimates has cost Rockland over $10 million. Incoming School Superintendent Jane Hackett also called on the Legislature to raise circuit breaker special education reimbursements from 75% to 90%.
In Norwell, the Advisory Board spent two nights reviewing FY27 budgets in the long shadow of last year’s failed override. The consequences are becoming tangible: the town’s Integrated Pest Management program was eliminated to save roughly $50,000, and Highway Director Glenn Ferguson warned that athletic fields “are going to start to deteriorate very quickly.” A full-time DPW position has gone unfilled, meaning CDL-certified road crews are spending two days a week folding cardboard at the recycling center. The Water Department is also one person short and managing a PFAS violation at the Washington Street well site, where fourth-quarter readings came in between 24 and 26 parts per trillion against a state limit of 20.
Whitman is taking a different approach to its own fiscal distress. The Select Board voted unanimously to join Hanson in requesting a forensic audit of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District from the Massachusetts Inspector General, following budgetary errors discovered in FY25. Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter presented a preliminary FY27 deficit of over $1 million under a 5% school assessment increase scenario, with options including a revenue-based formula allocation that would reduce the gap to $711,000 and a draw from the OPEB Trust Fund to offset health costs. The board expressed deep skepticism about pursuing a Proposition 2½ override following a failed attempt in FY26. In a surprise development, board member Laura Howe reversed her announced resignation and filed papers to run for reelection.
The State Watchdog Report Every Finance Director Should Read
The Massachusetts Inspector General this week released a 90-page study concluding that the state’s own funding model is a primary driver of escalating special education transportation costs — and warning that four prior reports over 20 years on the same problem have been largely ignored. The OIG found that Massachusetts transported 61,996 special education students in FY24 at an average cost of $13,825 per rider, compared to $1,045 for general education, and that the state places students in out-of-district programs at nearly three times the national rate. The circuit breaker reimbursement model — which forces districts to front-load costs and wait for next-year reimbursement — came in at only 61.36% for transportation in FY25, well below the statutory 75%. Vendor competition is also structurally broken: 67% of districts received zero or one bid in their most recent general education procurement cycle. The OIG’s recommendations include requiring itemized vendor invoices, creating a central contract database, reforming the circuit breaker model, and extending bid response windows. Inspector General Shapiro implored the Legislature not to let the report “grace a shelf in the State Archives.” Governor Healey has filed a supplemental budget proposal to restore full circuit breaker reimbursement for FY25; it remains pending.
Infrastructure: Long-Term Commitments, Deferred Costs
Pembroke got its first comprehensive water system update since 2016, with engineers from Apex Engineering presenting a capital plan stretching to 2045. The plan identifies the need to replace aging Vinyl Lined Asbestos Cement pipes (discontinued due to PCE carcinogen concerns), rehabilitate all three storage tanks, and meet a future maximum daily demand of 2.74 million gallons. Town Manager Bill Chenard was direct when asked if the town could afford the decades-long project list: “Do we have a choice?” The meeting also brought news that the $126 million Route 3 bridge replacement over the North River is officially moving into construction, with at least three years of one-lane restrictions during peak travel periods ahead. Separately, the meeting took a contentious turn when former school committee chair Patrick Chilcott exercised his right to have a discussion about employee complaints against him held in open session rather than executive session — a move that surfaced an ongoing internal dispute involving an independent investigation into the Town Manager. The board voted 5-0 to take no action on the employee complaints, with town counsel citing the SJC’s 2023 Barron v. Kolenda ruling that civility in public comment “can be encouraged but cannot be required.”
In Plympton, the newly constituted Town Properties Committee held three public sessions in early February to relaunch the long-delayed fire station project, after the previous committee resigned in late 2025. The new committee’s “data-first” approach — emphasizing that 67–69% of the town’s 808 annual emergency calls are EMS-related, not fire — drew pushback from residents who questioned why nearly $1 million in previous studies was being set aside. The week also surfaced an Open Meeting Law violation from a January executive session, which the committee remedied by releasing the minutes and recreating the discussion publicly. The project will not be ready for a Town Meeting vote in May 2026.
Town Meeting Prep: Immigration, Senior Centers, and Zoning
Plymouth’s Select Board voted 3-2 to recommend the “Community Trust Bylaw” — a citizens petition that would enshrine into town law existing restrictions on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement for civil matters. Supporters argued a bylaw provides “durability” and civilian oversight that departmental policy cannot; opponents, including board chair David Golden, expressed trust in the police department and concern about legal conflicts with the Chief’s contractual authority over department regulations. The article goes to Spring Town Meeting for a final vote.
In Hingham, the Select Board formally closed out the debate over the new Center for Active Living’s location. Officials rejected a late-stage proposal to pivot the project to the former Hitchcock shoe building on Beal Street, citing a minimum 2.5-year delay, $1–1.5 million annually in inflationary cost increases, and the loss of approximately $2 million already spent on Bare Cove Park design work. Governor Healey signed the Article 97 land swap legislation for the Bare Cove site in February 2024, and the project has now cleared all state and local permitting. The board’s remaining FY27 budget gap stands at $222,000, pending final GIC healthcare premium numbers due in early March.
Hull’s Select Board voted 3-2 to raise residential parking permit fees from $14 to $20 and move the entire permit process online. The revenue will help expand the town’s Community Service Officer program from six to ten officers ahead of summer. The board also referred four zoning bylaw amendments to the Planning Board for public hearing March 11, including a reduction in maximum building height in “Flexible Plan Development” zones from 70 to 40 feet and new building-break requirements in the Nantasket Beach Overlay District.
Oversight and Accountability
The Halifax Board of Health voted unanimously to hire independent engineering firm Tighe & Bond to review remediation plans for the Marilyn’s Landing landfill project. Abutters have raised concerns about the importation of “remedial dirt” — described by some residents as contaminated soil — with the landfill’s reported height growing from 144 to over 170 feet and questions about air monitoring during soil transport going unanswered. Select Board member Tom Pratt urged the Board of Health not to let tipping fee revenue offered by the developer influence the environmental safety analysis.
Weymouth’s Town Council unanimously passed three new ordinances overhauling regulation of massage, bodywork, and mobility establishments. The move follows joint health and police inspections in 2025 that found “egregious violations,” including concerns about human trafficking and prostitution. All such businesses will now require licensing through the Board of Licensing Commissioners. The council also approved $116,000 in CPA funds for the Abigail Adams Birthplace and $31,000 from reserves for Fire Department turnout gear for seven new hires.
Schools: Phones Down, Data Up
East Bridgewater High School launched a “bell-to-bell” cell phone pilot for grades 9–12 this week, requiring students to deposit phones in classroom holders during instructional time. The policy follows a district-wide cyber security incident that knocked systems 95% offline — and, perhaps unexpectedly, produced positive feedback from teachers and students who found the forced return to “old school” methods refreshing. On the construction front, Gilbane has taken over the Central School property, with 30,000 yards of soil — approximately 1,500 truckloads — set to arrive over coming weeks for a 10-month settlement period before groundbreaking.
On the Radar
The Old Colony Planning Council is accepting responses to a regional food system survey through its Food Resiliency Project, intended to shape Plymouth County food policy and investment priorities. Plymouth’s Select Board budget workshop is scheduled for March 4. The Whitman-Hanson Regional School Committee sets its formal FY27 assessment on March 18. Hull’s Planning Board holds public hearings on four zoning amendments March 11. And the OIG report on special education transportation is now before the House and Senate Ways and Means committees and the Joint Committee on Education — worth watching to see whether it joins the four previous studies that went nowhere.