Belmont Select Board approves 24 percent health insurance hike ahead of open enrollment

BELMONT -- April 13, 2026, Belmont Select Board unanimously approves 24 percent health insurance rate increase for FY27. Meeting for nearly four hours on April 13, Chair Matt Taylor, Vice Chair Taylor Yates, and Member Carol Berberian voted to set health and dental insurance rates for fiscal year 2027 after Town Administrator Patrice Garvin warned that the town's self-insured health trust is projected to draw down to approximately $4.3 million and that the increase is needed to prevent further depletion, and that the rate would have been 32 percent had it included GLP-1 coverage. The board also unanimously accepted new Town Moderator Adam Dash's request to hold the May 4 Annual Town Meeting in hybrid format, and spent the bulk of the evening hearing from nine citizens' petitioners on articles ranging from an elected planning board and mandatory revolving fund disclosures to a home rule petition for permanent hybrid town meeting authority, with Town Meeting Member Mike Crowley noting that 93 percent of town meeting members surveyed prefer the hybrid option and that the state's temporary authorization expires in June 2027.