Plymouth Select Board Begins Two-Part Workshop to Grow Commercial Tax Base

PLYMOUTH — June 24, 2026 — Plymouth Select Board opens two-part economic development workshop targeting commercial tax base growth. The board held a three-hour working session Wednesday evening, with Chair Harry Helm, members Kevin Canty and David Cohan in person and member Ken Golden by Zoom; Assistant Town Manager Lauren Lind led the discussion. Lind presented baseline data showing Plymouth's commercial tax base at just 17 percent of assessed value — well below the 25 percent sustainability benchmark — and warned that the buildout of Pine Hills and Redbrook within four to five years will eliminate 35 to 40 percent of annual new growth revenue. Tourism generated $711 million in 2022 expenditures but shrank by $23 million in inflation-adjusted terms; the commercial fishing fleet's catch value dropped from $6 million in 2018 to roughly $5 million in 2023. The board identified the absence of any dedicated in-house business recruitment function as a critical gap, discussed deed-restriction-based affordable housing as a faster and more cost-effective alternative to subsidized construction, and expressed skepticism about data centers while endorsing pursuit of a marine-technology university satellite campus. A second workshop is targeted for the week of July 8 or July 15.