Bridgewater Finance Committee Sends Veterans Tax Ordinance Back, Demands Budget Role

Finance Committee · Meeting of March 2, 2026

Bridgewater's Finance Committee voted to return a veterans tax-exemption ordinance to the Town Council and then erupted in a sustained challenge to the town's budget process. The committee unanimously sent back Ordinance FY25-19, the Hero Act's Clause 22-I local option, which would apply annual cost-of-living adjustments to veterans property-tax exemptions at an estimated added cost of roughly $2,874 per year, citing an incorrect fiscal year reference and the town's looming fiscal pressures, including a projected fiscal year 2027 override that member John Higgins estimated at between eight and ten million dollars. The committee approved a $10,000 Taunton River Stewardship Council trail grant and a $25 veterans office donation unanimously, then split 5-3 on a $4,500 Community Preservation Act reimbursement for Academy Building frieze installation overruns.

The sharpest exchange came during subcommittee reports, when members argued the Finance Committee is being treated as "a rubber stamp" in violation of its charter mandate to advise on the town budget before other bodies act, with Finance Committee Chair MJ committing to send a written demand to the Town Council that same evening and schedule a special meeting for March 9 to review town and school audit findings.

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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of March 2, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.