Plymouth Select Board Begins Two-Part Workshop to Grow Commercial Tax Base

PLYMOUTH -- June 24, 2026, Plymouth Select Board opens two-part economic development workshop targeting commercial tax base growth. The board held a three-hour working session Wednesday evening, with Chair Harry Helm, members Kevin Canty and David Cohan in person and member Ken Golden by Zoom; Assistant Town Manager Lauren Lind led the discussion. Lind presented baseline data showing Plymouth's commercial tax base at just 17 percent of assessed value, well below the 25 percent sustainability benchmark, and warned that the buildout of Pine Hills and Redbrook within four to five years will eliminate 35 to 40 percent of annual new growth revenue. Tourism generated $711 million in 2022 expenditures but shrank by $23 million in inflation-adjusted terms; the commercial fishing fleet's catch value dropped from $6 million in 2018 to roughly $5 million in 2023. The board identified the absence of any dedicated in-house business recruitment function as a critical gap, discussed deed-restriction-based affordable housing as a faster and more cost-effective alternative to subsidized construction, and expressed skepticism about data centers while endorsing pursuit of a marine-technology university satellite campus. A second workshop is targeted for the week of July 8 or July 15.