The Swansea Board of Selectmen heard on Nov. 12 that the town’s 2026 budget faces sharply higher insurance costs and unresolved assessing expenses.

Town budget staff told the board that property and liability premiums increased by about $23,600 (roughly 26%) and that the town’s health‑insurance line shows a 55.4% increase in the current proposal. “The property and liability has increased by 23,600 — 26.32%,” the budget presenter said as she walked the board through the figures. Staff attributed the rise to member exposure changes, rising reinsurance costs, discontinued cap programs and changes in employee plan selections.

The insurance increases come as administrators reported a weak response to the municipal assessing services request for proposals. The administrator said the RFP closed with two denial letters and a single proposal that priced general assessing work at about $31,000 (including pickups and abatement services) and estimated a full revaluation for 2026 at about $40,000.

“We put it out for RFP and we've received two denial letters and one proposal so far,” the administrator said, explaining the board would need to decide whether to budget the revaluation through the CIP or operating budget and to schedule a work session to iron out options.

Board members pressed staff on employee contribution levels and opt‑out mechanics as drivers of the health‑insurance spike. Staff noted 12 current opt‑outs in the town census and outlined how the opt‑out formula operates, and said final counts should be known after open enrollment in mid‑December. The board discussed contribution splits used in other towns and asked staff to return with options, including raising employee contributions or changing opt‑out calculations.

Next steps: staff will schedule a work session and return with a clearer accounting of CIP reserves available for revaluation and options to mitigate insurer and health‑cost pressures. The board did not take a final vote on budget adoption during the Nov. 12 meeting.