Belmont Select Board Ratifies Police Chief Contract, Votes to Join State Health Insurance Pool

BELMONT — March 23, 2026 — Belmont Select Board hires a new police chief and votes to pursue a state health insurance pool in a packed March 23 session. The board unanimously ratified a three-year contract for Shane Smith as the town's new police chief, with a May 4 start date and a starting salary of $210,000; Smith must establish residency within 15 miles of Belmont by the end of next summer. The board also voted unanimously to engage MGL Chapter 32B sections 21 through 23 — the formal process for joining the state Group Insurance Commission — after years of deliberation, citing a projected 24 percent rate increase on the town's self-insured plan as the decisive factor. "Every year, the numbers dictated against joining GIC," said Member Elizabeth Dion. "As recently as this last summer, we thought that was still the case. And then it not only changed, it changed quickly." If completed, the transition would take effect January 1, 2027, with enrollment expected in October or November. The board also voted to continue the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for the Sherman Gardens public housing redevelopment, a $78 million project that will replace 1970s-era units with 140 new affordable apartments at no debt-exclusion cost to taxpayers.