Finance panel elects chair, fills vice chair seat
Finance Committee · Meeting of September 21, 2026
Somerset Finance Committee re-elects its chair and fills a long-vacant vice chair seat. Greg O'Donnell was re-elected chairman, Chris Wilcox elected vice chair and Brian Johnson re-elected secretary, each by 6-0 roll call. Member George Kelly won approval to form a three-member subcommittee studying how the town's tax base shifted after the Montaup and Brayton Point power plants closed, with residential properties now covering an estimated 88 percent of the base, up from roughly 35 to 40 percent historically.
"That's not sustainable, because everyone's taxes are going to double again in seven to eight years," Kelly said, citing tax increases of 60 to 90 percent against annual operating-budget growth of just 2 to 3 percent. The subcommittee aims to finish its data collection by the end of October and a full analysis by early December, also examining whether keeping water and sewer as a separate enterprise still makes financial sense.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,267 words
Source: the Finance Committee meeting of September 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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