Finance Committee Unanimously Backs Bylaw Change, Defers Budget Votes to April

WEST BRIDGEWATER -- March 20, 2025, West Bridgewater's Finance Committee unanimously recommended a bylaw overhaul for its own appointment process and heard a slate of fiscal year 2026 budgets Thursday, with final votes deferred to April 3. The single binding action was a unanimous vote to recommend to town meeting that the Finance Committee's appointment process be formalized under a five-member panel of the Select Board, moderator, and town clerk, with all terms standardized to begin October 1. Town Administrator Jim Bent flagged that health insurance, budgeted at a 4 percent increase, has since been rated at 7 percent through the town's Mayflower Group pool, and that the contributory retirement assessment could vanish from the budget by 2033 to 2034, saving two to three million dollars annually. West Bridgewater's school administration presented an $18,609,946 appropriation request, a 5.83 percent increase, driven by a $324,000 spike in agricultural school tuitions and a shortfall in school choice revenue. The water department is seeking an additional $6 million in borrowing for the Sears Street treatment plant after bids came in above $16 million against a $10 million town meeting appropriation from last year.