Dighton Finance Committee Approves FY27 Department Budgets, Defers Police Vehicle Requests

DIGHTON — April 16, 2026 — Dighton Finance Committee votes through most FY27 department budgets, punting police vehicle requests to April 22. Meeting more than two dozen department lines Thursday, the committee approved a revised public library budget of $315,984 — nearly 20 percent below the original submission following a staff retirement and position reclassification — and set the group health insurance line at $1,501,473.60 after cutting $40,000 from the figure before it, with Town Accountant Serena Beaumont cautioning against deeper cuts. The committee raised the fire department's vehicle repair and maintenance budget to $25,000, above both the town administrator's $16,169 and the Board of Selectmen's $20,000 recommendations, citing aging apparatus including a 2004 vehicle. Member Ron Epstein challenged the police department's budget, questioning overtime for the administrative assistant and the logic of paying for officers' college degrees and then granting base-pay increases on top, stating: "The only thing I saw here was just shifting numbers around — where are the cuts?" The committee voted reluctantly to accept the police budget at the town administrator's recommendation but declined to fund two requested administrative vehicles, with Member Jake Stevens calling the request "the height of hilarity." Beaumont flagged that one PILOT payer owing $80,000 has made no payments despite February due dates, and that the excess levy cushion fell from $107,000 to $83,000 following a House vote earlier that day.