Bridgewater Finance Committee Clears Police Contract, Punts on Town Clerk Pay Cut

BRIDGEWATER — April 21, 2026 — Bridgewater's Finance Committee unanimously backed a new police collective bargaining agreement Tuesday after more than two years of negotiations. The Budget and Finance Committee of the Town Council approved Order O-FY26-058, the Bridgewater Police Relief Association contract, which moves the town's health insurance cost-sharing split from 80-20 to 75-25 and held the police department's year-over-year budget to a 1.5 percent increase, from roughly $6.6 million to $6.7 million. Finance Director Lori Deptula said the proposed FY27 annual budget closes a roughly $1.2 million gap in part through $607,000 in salary savings by reducing most non-union, non-public-safety employees' hours by five per week. A proposal to reduce the town clerk's salary from a 40-hour to a 35-hour rate — dropping pay from approximately $97,000 to $79,000 — was referred back to the full council without a recommendation after a motion to continue the item failed for lack of a second. The full FY27 budget was continued to the committee's next meeting, with the fire department contract remaining the sole unsettled collective bargaining agreement.