Wilmington Proposes FY27 Budget With 2.1 Percent Overall Increase, Four New Part-Time Positions

WILMINGTON — January 27, 2026 — Wilmington Select Board receives FY27 budget proposal with 2.1 percent overall increase and $4 million capital stabilization deposit. Town Manager Eric Slagel presented the fiscal year 2027 budget to a four-member board — one member was absent, prompting a pointed objection from a colleague who called the incomplete attendance "absolutely unacceptable" for a budget meeting. The budget holds total growth to 2.1 percent largely because capital spending drops sharply from last year's elevated level; the operating budget rises more than 6.5 percent, driven by three retroactive union contract settlements, a conservatively budgeted 10 percent general liability insurance increase, and a 12 percent health insurance increase the town attributes partly to surging GLP-1 drug costs — coverage the town plans to drop for weight loss in July. The plan adds four part-time, non-benefited positions across elderly services, human resources, accounting, and the assessor's office, and boosts public buildings maintenance by nearly $200,000. Slagel also announced the town's AAA bond rating was reaffirmed that day, crediting Finance Director Stephanie Frontera. Finance Committee member Scott Novello raised the cost of Wilmington's MBTA Communities Act noncompliance during public comment; Slagel confirmed lost grants to the schools and town already exceed several hundred thousand dollars, with a larger culvert-replacement implementation grant also at risk.