Freetown Select Board Requires Future Retirees to Pay Active-Employee Health Insurance Rates

FREETOWN — May 4, 2026 — Freetown Select Board requires future retirees to pay active-employee health insurance rates. The board voted unanimously Monday to apply to anyone retiring after July 1, 2027 the same health insurance contribution percentage they carried as active employees — a policy Town Administrator Deborah Furtado said is needed to rein in a health insurance budget of nearly $2.4 million annually, equal to the cost of running the fire department. Current retirees are unaffected. The board also awarded a $61,163 paving contract for the Fire Station 2 parking lot to Pawtucket Hot Mix Asphalt Inc., the lowest of 11 bidders on a project that had $100,000 appropriated at town meeting. In a related action, the board approved an agreement with J. Bustede Construction LLC for hydrant repair and replacement, contracted with G. Brooks Construction for fiscal year 2027 winter sands at $27 per ton delivered, and authorized a $110,000 Conservation Commission purchase of land at 0 Richmond Road abutting the town landfill. The board tabled a social media response policy pending town counsel guidance, and voted to close the annual town meeting warrant for June 1 — with new articles adding battery energy storage systems to the zoning use table and authorizing Water Superintendent positions — with a follow-up Zoom session set for May 12 to finalize the omnibus budget.