South Shore News...letter: Budget Squeeze
Health Insurance Spikes and Pension Mandates Drive Service Cuts
The holiday season brought little cheer to municipal finance offices across the South Shore, as communities from Plymouth to Plympton grappled with a common threat: fixed costs rising far faster than available revenue. In meeting after meeting last week, town and school officials unveiled budget projections showing structural deficits driven by double-digit health insurance spikes and aggressive pension payment schedules—pressures that are forcing cuts to services even in towns that recently passed tax overrides.
What’s striking isn’t just that communities face fiscal strain—it’s the convergence of timeline and cause. Multiple towns are projecting crisis points within the next two to three fiscal years, creating a regional pattern that suggests the problem extends beyond local decision-making to systemic issues in how Massachusetts funds municipal government.
The Pension Squeeze: Plymouth County’s Payment Schedule Under Fire
The Plymouth County Retirement Association’s aggressive funding timeline emerged as a flashpoint in multiple communities, with officials describing the mandated payment increases as “crippling” to town operations.
East Bridgewater became the first town to formally challenge the system, with Town Administrator Charlie Seelig directing all departments to prepare for 2% budget cuts while simultaneously forming a coalition of member towns to request actuarial data on extending the payment schedule from 2031 to 2040—the maximum allowed by state law. The aggressive 2031 deadline forces “astronomical annual assessment increases” that Seelig warned could require “service cuts” to meet. The town is requesting the Retirement Board perform a new calculation (costing roughly $7,500 for all participating towns) to determine potential annual relief.
The same retirement costs dominated discussions in the East Bridgewater School Committee, where Chair Dan Picha vented frustration that the shortened payment schedule is “falling on deaf ears at Plymouth County.” The school department alone faces a $450,000 cut under the town’s 2% reduction directive. State Representative Alyson Sullivan-Almeida, attending the meeting, argued the state has “a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” criticizing proposals to shift tax burdens to property owners.
Health Insurance: The Quiet Budget Killer
If pension costs are squeezing towns from one side, health insurance is tightening the vise from the other. Plymouth faced the most dramatic impact, with Town Manager Derek Brindisi announcing a $4.5 million spike in health insurance premiums (13% increase) that consumed nearly 50% of all new town revenue when combined with mandatory pension increases. “This is easily the most challenging budget that I’ve seen,” Brindisi told the Select Board, warning that without structural changes, the town faces “position losses and other major cuts.” The preliminary FY27 budget already denies requests for eight new firefighters, eight IT staff, eight police officers, and reduces police cruiser purchases—all while new growth revenue from major developments like Pinehills declines from a high of $5.3 million to a certified $3.3 million.
Whitman projected a nearly $1.3 million FY27 deficit driven by a 7.28% pension assessment increase and an expected 10-11% health insurance spike. Select Board member Shawn Kain described a “tightening vice” where the town anticipates roughly $1 million in new revenue but conservative estimates on local receipts leave only about $640,000 in actual available funds. “I’m worried if we don’t keep public safety whole... the first and major reason is safety. I think if we don’t run a second ambulance, that’s a real hit to response times,” Kain warned.
School Districts Sound the Alarm on Sustainability
The fiscal pressures hit school departments particularly hard, with multiple districts warning that current funding models are mathematically unsustainable even in the short term.
Hanover Schools approved a $45.1 million FY27 budget that maintains services but triggered stark warnings from committee members. The budget relies on a 2.75% increase in town appropriation combined with a 28.68% increase in supplemental funding including Circuit Breaker funds. Committee member Libby Corbo voted yes but made clear her opposition to the town’s “guardrails” limiting increases to 2.5-3%: “I don’t think that is sustainable for the schools, and it will put us in a deficit... these guardrails that are set up for future funding by the town... result in failure for our schools.” Chair Pete Miraglia acknowledged the district has presented a “crossover” point at the end of FY28 where expenses will outpace revenue, with “two years of runway” to find solutions.
Plympton Schools presented two starkly different budget scenarios: a “level service” plan requiring a 2.61% increase to maintain current programs, or a “level funded” option that would eliminate the school band, reduce the library position from full-time to 0.8 FTE, cut speech services from full-time to 0.6 FTE, and eliminate one custodial position. Chair Jason Fraser emphasized that while the town is nearing its levy limit, there’s been “no official directive yet to prepare for a zero-increase budget,” though he warned about federal “headwinds” potentially jeopardizing REAP grant funding the town recently began using for operations.
Fee Hikes and Override Budgets: User-Pays Meets Its Limits
Facing revenue constraints, some towns turned to user fees—with mixed results that exposed the political and practical limits of the “user pays” model.
Duxbury implemented the most dramatic fee increases, voting unanimously for 30% hikes in both beach and transfer station stickers. Resident beach stickers will jump from $210 to roughly $270, while transfer station stickers rise from $105 to approximately $135, effective March 1, 2026. Finance Director Mary MacKinnon explained the Transfer Station has operated at a deficit six of the last eight years, driven by a 70% increase in tipping fees since 2020. The immediate impact is a combined $90 annual increase for the average household, but the larger financial question looms in the spring when voters will likely be asked to approve a property tax override to fund the “5B” budget. That override proposal seeks to restore two police officers and two firefighters cut after last year’s failed override, plus $812,946 for schools including full-day kindergarten. Facilities Director Katie St. Clair delivered a passionate plea: “You’re not paying me to do what I’m good at. I am pushing papers... We need to make it an actual maintenance department, not a bunch of people running around with their heads cut off.”
Scituate attempted to increase boat slip fees but hit choppy waters when the Select Board stalled the vote due to confusion over “premium” slip surcharges for outer slips that weren’t in the official motion paperwork. Vice Chair Susan Harrison questioned the discrepancy, and the Board asked the Waterways Commission to return with a consolidated proposal. The delay signals that even user fees for boaters—a primary revenue source for harbor maintenance—will face scrutiny before approval.
Leadership Searches Amid Budget Uncertainty
The fiscal crisis hasn’t halted the region’s ongoing leadership transition, though it’s casting those searches in a more urgent light.
Halifax voted unanimously to offer the town administrator position to Steven Solbo, a former Halifax resident now serving in Falmouth and working for Sharon and Norwood. The selection comes at a critical time, with the town facing five of six union contracts expiring this year, ongoing override discussions, and water quality concerns. Solbo emphasized his extensive town meeting experience (six meetings over 18 months across multiple communities) and committed to a minimum five-year tenure. “You don’t have people walking up to you in general in Massachusetts that often,” Solbo said of attending Holidays in Halifax with his family. “That’s the type of people that are here.” The board also appointed Michael Brogan of Norfolk as Building Commissioner.
Kingston officially executed a contract for Scott Lambiase to become Town Administrator starting January 5, 2026, though the vote exposed fiscal tensions. While unanimous, Selectman Carl Pike voiced strong reservations about the contract’s cost: “I am in 100% agreement with the selection of Scott... However I am concerned with the contract, with the terms of the salary that I believe is richer than the town can afford in consideration of all the financial issues that we have coming up in the future.”
Weymouth closed its 2025 session honoring four outgoing members including Mayor Michael Molisse, who formally concluded his 25-year tenure on the Council. The departure of four experienced councilors represents a significant loss of institutional memory as the incoming Council faces upcoming fiscal issues and a new school transportation contract.
Abington filled three vacancies on its Search Committee, with two appointments passing unanimously but a 4-1 split on the final seat. Nicole Emery cast the lone dissent against former Holbrook Town Administrator Gregory Hanley, though she stated “nothing against Greg, I just think there’s other people I’d like to consider.”
School Equity and Excellence Questions
Beyond budget battles, school districts grappled with questions about who’s being served and how well.
Hingham saw a celebratory evening marking the permanent appointment of Assistant Superintendent Erica Pollard take a serious turn when data revealed that zero students with active IEPs took an Advanced Placement course during the 2023-2024 school year. “I just want to make sure we’re not giving up on these kids and saying that they can’t go to college... It’s shocking. I’m sorry. That absolutely shocks me,” said Committee member Tim Miller-Dempsey. Director of School Counseling Heather Rodriguez noted that 10 students who had previously been on an IEP did participate, and that enrollment is open with students able to override teacher recommendations. The Educational Programming Subcommittee will review the data in January. In other business, the committee approved using up to $269,986.36 from the Extraordinary Maintenance Fund for emergency HVAC repairs including cracks in a high-speed boiler.
Norwell opened its meeting with Chair Kristin McEachern issuing a strong rebuttal to recent public criticism of the district’s financial decisions following last May’s failed override. McEachern characterized criticisms as “disingenuous” and “counterproductive,” clarifying that the 9.5% teacher salary increase over three years was offset by removing two severance liens (reducing liability from $1.75 million to $900,000) and increased union health insurance premium contributions (saving approximately $181,000 over two years). “To overstate the school’s control of the town budget by 20% is grossly inaccurate,” McEachern stated, noting the committee directly oversees 50% of the operating budget, not 70%.
Capital Projects: Scaling Back and Building Up
Infrastructure needs continued to advance, with some projects scaling back while others prepared for climate reality.
Cohasset revealed a major strategic shift on its Public Safety building, eliminating the fire substation from the 135 King Street facility to address “sticker shock” over cost estimates. Public Facilities Working Group Chair Glenn Pratt described removing the substation as “low-hanging fruit” to bring the budget “back down to reality.” The working group will launch a study of the existing Elm Street Fire Headquarters on January 8 to determine necessary improvements. Select Board member David Farrag questioned why the Firefighters Union provided information leading to this change at the “11th hour” despite a two-year planning process. The town also faces a leadership vacuum, with the Finance Director position receiving zero applicants after posting.
Scituate unveiled plans for a new Harbormaster and Coast Guard facility elevated 10 feet above current grade to meet FEMA flood map requirements. FEMA places the Cole Parkway site in an “AE15” zone requiring the first floor at 20 feet elevation. The “wharf-style” design features smaller gables to maintain pedestrian scale despite the imposing height, with public restrooms, showers for transient boaters, and a Coast Guard barrack. Officials noted that even renovating existing bathrooms would trigger FEMA’s “50% rule,” forcing elevation anyway.
Rockland heard competing visions from three environmental firms to close and redevelop the Pleasant Street Landfill, with packages ranging from modest park improvements to potential windfalls exceeding $5 million. Clean Earth LLC presented the most aggressive financial package with a $4.25 per ton host fee on an estimated 482,000 tons of soil, plus establishing a $3 million to $3.25 million fund for town use. The firms would pay for closure (estimated at $10-14 million) through revenue from tipping fees for regulated soils. Chair Michael O’Loughlin stated a decision would likely come at the first January meeting. The board also renewed The Banner’s liquor license under strict conditions requiring all outstanding fire fines paid by February 1, 2026, and current taxes by December 31, 2026.
Regional School District Challenges
Whitman advanced a plan for the town to step in and borrow tens of millions for the Whitman Middle School project on behalf of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District. The Regional District lacks a credit rating because it hasn’t completed its FY2024 audit, raising concerns about securing favorable bond rates. “If the town is to take over the borrowing... it will capitalize on a better interest rate which will translate to a lower debt cost to our taxpayers,” explained Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter. Voters will decide the debt authorization transfer at the January 12 Special Town Meeting. The town is also seeking to bridge a $148,000 gap for public safety using the ambulance purchase account and excess overlay funds.
Windfalls and Opportunities
Not all the news was grim. Kingston announced that MassDOT has accepted Route 106 for a full grind-and-overlay repaving project covering the entire cost—estimated at nearly $4 million—for the stretch from Main and Summer Streets to the Plympton town line, targeted for FY27. The board also executed a Host Community Agreement with Kingston Environmental LLC for a rail-haul waste transfer facility at 48 Marion Drive, designed to use existing MBTA infrastructure to transport waste out of state.