West Bridgewater Opens FY27 Budget Reviews With K-9, Debt, and Aid Concerns

WEST BRIDGEWATER — February 4, 2026 — West Bridgewater opens FY27 budget season with a state aid warning and school-zone speed debate. The Select Board reviewed departmental budgets Wednesday from the Treasurer-Collector, Police Department, and Fire Department while Town Administrator David Carisbrook delivered a stark assessment of the preliminary cherry sheet: after accounting for a $45,000 rise in estimated assessments, the town nets roughly $100,000 in new state revenue against an approximately $50 million budget, the second consecutive year of about 1 percent net growth despite the Fair Share Amendment. Carisbrook also warned that a state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education regulation converting Southeastern Regional Vocational School admissions to a full open lottery makes it impossible to budget the town's assessment accurately, raising the prospect of a multimillion-dollar surprise bill between now and May Town Meeting. On public safety, all three board members expressed skepticism about expanding speed humps, with one member saying she has "personally seen people on Scotland Street speed up to the speed hump, get over it" and continue accelerating, and the board directing the DPW director to price out programmable school-zone flashers and radar-feedback signs before the department's March budget presentation. The board also accepted Planning Board member Anthony Kinahan's resignation and called for volunteers to fill at least two vacancies on that board.