Finance Committee explores health insurance stabilization fund; budget deficit reaches $2.6 million.
Finance Committee hears FY27 budget deficit reaches $2.6 million. Town Administrator Marc Strange told the committee that employee benefit costs are driving the crisis: an 18 percent health insurance increase ($2 million) and a 10 percent rise in retirement assessments ($657,000) push total new
Finance Committee · Meeting of January 21, 2026
LUDLOW — Finance Committee hears FY27 budget deficit reaches $2.6 million. Town Administrator Marc Strange told the committee that employee benefit costs are driving the crisis: an 18 percent health insurance increase ($2 million) and a 10 percent rise in retirement assessments ($657,000) push total new obligations to $2.7 million. Strange presented three options to the committee: negotiate a higher employer-employee health insurance cost split, redesign plans to raise deductibles from $500/$1,000 to $2,000/$4,000 (saving $920,000), or place a Proposition 2.5 override on the March ballot, which would generate $1.2 million in new tax revenue and eliminate the $2.1 million trash fee at a cost of $200-250 per median-value property.
Without action, Ludlow would cut school and town budgets, eliminate three or more full-time positions, and reduce reserves.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 352 words
Source: the Finance Committee meeting of January 21, 2026, compiled from the official minutes.
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