Hingham Select Board Backs Health Stipend, Splits on Real Estate Transfer Fee

HINGHAM -- February 24, 2026, Hingham Select Board unanimously backs one-year employee health care stipend and splits 2-1 to advance a real estate transfer fee home rule petition. Meeting remotely on February 24, Chair William Ramsey and members Liz Klene and Julie Strehle approved Article FF, a one-time measure funded from the town's $11 million unassigned fund balance that would shift the employee health insurance split from 50-50 to an effective 60-40 for FY27, responding to premium increases Hingham Middle School teacher Margaret Curran described as a combined 24 percent rise over two years. Town Administrator Tom Mayo noted a consultant found Hingham "virtually uninsurable" outside the state GIC, with claims running 107 percent of premiums. Strehle dissented on Article X, the 1 percent real estate transfer fee that Mayo said would have generated $2.7 million in 2025, citing equity concerns for buyers and the fact that 19 similar home rule petitions from other towns have sat unanswered at the legislature since as far back as 2019. The board deferred action on Article P, the roughly $30 million center for active living, to a Thursday follow-up meeting.