Brockton City Council Approves $8.7 Million in Free Cash Transfers to Set Tax Rate

BROCKTON — December 15, 2025 — Brockton City Council votes unanimously to transfer $8.7 million in free cash to satisfy state tax-rate requirements. At a special meeting Monday night, all six councilors voted 6-0 on each of three transfers directed by the state Department of Revenue as a precondition for setting the city's fiscal year property tax rate: $138,096 to DPW refuse retained earnings (amended up from $134,735 on the floor after DOR finalized its figures), $1,609,443 to a reserve for appropriation deficits, and $6,992,153 to the health insurance trust fund. Chief Financial Officer Dr. Clarkson attributed the largest transfer to a surge in health insurance claims driven by GLP-1 weight loss drug costs and a contraction of providers in eastern Massachusetts, noting that premium income was already outpacing claims by nearly $4 million as of October. City Auditor Juan Gonzalez told councilors the three transfers will leave Brockton with roughly $1.4 million in certified free cash, prompting concern from Councilor DeCastro, but said the DOR's Bureau of Accounts had assured the city it could seek a free cash recertification to partially restore that balance once the transfers are complete and the tax rate is set.