Dover Select Board Clears Tax Rate, Liquor Licenses, and $28,700 in Old Ambulance Debt

DOVER — November 4, 2025 — Dover Select Board unanimously maintains single tax rate and writes off nearly $29,000 in old ambulance bills. The board voted 3-0 Tuesday on all items, approving the Board of Assessors' annual recommendation of a residential factor of one with no exemptions, and abating 34 uncollectible ambulance bills totaling $28,723.70 covering July 2018 through December 2022 — a backlog attributed to COVID disruptions and staff turnover. Personnel Board Co-Chair Sue Jeremia presented a recommended 3.25 percent cost-of-living adjustment for non-union employees in fiscal year 2027, estimated at $167,000, citing a Boston-area CPI of 3.2 percent and comparable increases in Sherborn and Needham; no vote was taken pending the Warrant Committee's review. Select Board member Dave Havlin, who was appointed to the Dover Police Association union contract negotiation team, pressed for five years of longitudinal COLA data from neighboring towns, noting that the town's revenues are capped at roughly 2.5 percent annual growth under Proposition 2 1/2 while employee costs — including a projected $400,000 spike in health care — are rising faster. Board member Cam Hudson announced Dover's sidewalk safety committee holds its first meeting November 17, and Dover became the 19th Massachusetts community to ban nicotine sales to residents born after November 25, 2025, following a unanimous Board of Health vote the previous evening.