Finance Committee unanimously backs $25.9 million in school assessments

REHOBOTH — April 8, 2026 — Rehoboth Finance Committee unanimously recommends roughly $25.9 million in school assessments for fiscal year 2027, the lowest increase in Superintendent Bill Rooney's four-year tenure. Rooney and District Business Administrator Leo Brim told the committee Wednesday that Rehoboth's share of the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District assessment will rise just 0.92 percent, driven down by retired debt service, a healthcare cost increase held below 7 percent, and an approximately $1.1 million excess-and-deficiency turnback from FY25. The committee voted unanimously to approve the Dighton-Rehoboth assessment of $24,413,031, the Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School assessment of $1,173,531, and the Bristol County Agricultural School assessment of $475,053. Rooney warned that state Chapter 70 aid grew by only $136,000 — one quarter of 1 percent — on a roughly $55 million budget, and that a new funding formula expected for FY28 remains an unknown, leaving the committee unable to predict whether the low-assessment trend will hold.