WARWICK — Residents will decide whether the town should take ownership of the First Parish Unitarian Church and Meetinghouse, as well as consider its commitment to pursuing green energy and the town’s fiscal year 2026 budget, during Annual Town Meeting.

Of the 26 articles that will come before Warwick voters on Monday, May 5, Town Coordinator David Young said he envisions the town’s adoption of a long-term decarbonized energy plan, and the town’s acceptance of the meetinghouse and 32 acres of land on Hastings Pond Road as a gift from the First Parish and Religious Society will inspire the most discussion.

“It is no longer an active church. It has a board of governance now and they’re interested in transferring it … to the town,” Young explained. “The land would be restricted or designated to support the building, and at this point, we want the town to own it, because it’s on the town common, it’s an 1830s meetinghouse and we will own it.”

Young said should Articles 23, 24 and 25, to accept the land and meetinghouse, be approved, the church’s board will include $100,000 in funds to repair the historic church.

“It will be a pile of rot that we’ll have to be stewards of because it’s on our land and the board of governance is in their 80s,” Young said. “There’s concerns by people about what the town’s signing up for. Our interest, initially, is to stabilize it. It’s got a slate roof. It’s a gorgeous 1830s meetinghouse.”

Young also anticipates that two articles concerning the town’s energy efficiency and strides toward greenhouse gas emissions reduction will generate discussion among voters. If approved, Article 21 would enact a “Specialized Energy Code,” regulating the town’s design and construction of buildings to meet energy-efficiency goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Article 22 would enter the town into the state’s long-term municipal decarbonization initiative, whereby the town can be designated as a “Climate Leader” through its commitment to the elimination of on-site fossil fuel burning in municipal buildings and vehicles. Young said becoming a Climate Leader would boost the town’s eligibility for state funding for clean energy infrastructure projects such as solar, battery storage and heat pumps.

“We’ve done [roughly $750,000] worth of work with state Green Communities money over the last 10 or so years,” he said, mentioning the need to prioritize energy-efficient vehicles when replacing equipment in the town’s fleet. “If there isn’t an electric vehicle that’s capable of plowing snow commercially available, then you go to a plug-in hybrid vehicle. And then if there isn’t that, you go to a hybrid vehicle. If there isn’t that, you go to a gas vehicle. It’s a commitment to get off of fossil fuels, but the end result will not be that we are forced into doing something that’s stupid.”

Voters will also vote on whether to approve the town’s proposed $3.03 million fiscal year 2026 budget, which represents a roughly 7% increase from FY25. Young attributed the increase, in part, to rising health insurance rates and said voters should expect a roughly 5.5% to 5.7% tax increase.

“Health insurance has gone up 18% so I think, all in all, taxpayers should expect a 5.5%, 5.7% increase in their bill on average if everything passes,” Young said.

Town Meeting will start at 7 p.m. Monday at Warwick Community School, 41 Winchester Road.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.