Weymouth Town Council opens FY26 budget hearings as fire, school concerns dominate

WEYMOUTH -- May 19, 2025, Weymouth Mayor Robert Hedlund presented a proposed $218 million fiscal year 2026 budget at the Town Council's Annual Town Meeting on May 19, framing the 4 percent spending increase as a disciplined response to back-to-back health insurance premium spikes. Chief of Staff Ted Langell told councilors that GIC premiums rose 11 percent in FY25 and 8.3 percent in FY26, a combined hit consuming nearly 40 percent of new revenue, while state assessments climbed nearly 10 percent and trash-fee revenues fell $3.5 million short of actual collection costs, prompting a $27-per-quarter fee increase for most residents. Weymouth Firefighters Local 1616 President Jim Young testified that the department will have no permanent chief in July, that some firefighters are working 96-hour overtime stretches, and that the town recently went 10 days without a ladder truck, "not acceptable," he said, adding that the town needs 119 firefighters and has 99. Langell pledged to bring a borrowing measure for a new tower ladder and engine to the June 2 council meeting, given manufacturing lead times exceeding 50 months. The council voted unanimously to refer fire and public safety staffing concerns to the Public Safety Subcommittee after Councilor Carrie Palazzo moved the referral. School advocates, including Ashley Dickerman of the Weymouth Townwide Parent Council, said the district faces a $1.9 million deficit and that Weymouth trails the state average in net school spending by 18 percent; Langell countered that the schools have received an average 4.5 percent budget increase over the past decade and that FY26 adds a classroom.