Dighton Approves Police Vehicle Lease, Signs Town Meeting Warrant

Select Board · Meeting of May 13, 2026

Dighton boards finalize town meeting warrant, approve police vehicle lease, and receive $27.7 million fire station estimate. Meeting jointly with the Finance Committee, the Select Board voted to remove one of two proposed police administrative vehicle articles and approved a five-year lease for a single vehicle at $14,500 annually, funded from free cash, after Deputy Chief Bridges presented a detailed fleet inventory showing cruisers accumulate idle-hour wear equivalent to far higher mileage. Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District Superintendent Bill Rooney reported that a $1.5 million career and technical education expansion grant had reduced Dighton's FY27 school assessment increase from 3.15 percent to approximately 2.59 percent, trimming roughly $75,500 from the town's obligation.

The Finance Committee approved reserve fund transfers of $23,000 for a catastrophic ambulance engine failure and $1,000 for a town official's professional development. Architecture firm Lero Hill presented a feasibility study estimating a new 24/7 fire station at approximately $27.7 million, with the town's two existing stations totaling only 10,600 square feet against a recommended 18,500-plus; no vote was taken on the project, and the overall town budget increase was reported at roughly 2 percent with only about $56,000 in free cash remaining.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of May 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.