WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — No details were revealed about the town's fiscal year 2026 spending plan at Monday's joint meeting of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

 

But it was apparent that FY26 budget will require a significant increase in the property tax levy in the year that begins July 1.

 

"This is not going to be a year when we're likely to keep the tax increase at 1 percent," Fin Comm member Melissa Cragg said near the end of the hour-long session.

 

That 1 percent referred to the FY25 increase in the levy — the total amount to be raised through property taxes in a calendar year. Last winter, the Fin Comm, after talking with the Select Board, tried to keep the levy level from FY24. It fell a little short of that goal, but largely the 1 percent rise was seen as a win by officials concerned about an ever increasing tax burden on homeowners.

 

On Monday night, officials discussed significant headwinds facing the town as it crafts a spending plan that will go before the annual town meeting on Thursday, May 22.

 

The biggest drag: spiraling health care costs for town and school employees.

 

"I know some communities already are dealing with a 25 percent-plus threshold from their plans," Town Manager Robert Menicocci told the joint meeting. "Our retiree health care in the fall came in the 20-percent range. After a lot of back and forth, it seems plans may be coming in in the 10- to 15-percent range after some tough conversations about what's covered and what's affordable in health plans.