Granby’s Budget Workshops on the FY27 operating budget will start in early March (5, 9 and 12 at 5 p.m. in Town Hall for town spending and March 11 at 7 p.m. at the Senior Center for the board of education spending, culminating with a board of finance public hearing on Monday, April 6, at 7 p.m., at the high school.
How the town and BOE spends your tax money to deliver important services will be discussed by elected officials with citizen input welcomed and encouraged. A vote to accept or reject the FY27 budget is planned for April 20 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at town hall.
Besides the FY27 budget vote, and subject to BOS approval over the coming months: In June, voters will likely see up to six capital project bond referendum questions that the Capital Program Priority Advisory Committee has recommended to the BOS: (see chart below)
6 Capital Project Bond Referendum Questions Proposed by CPPAC
| Stadium Field, Track and Field Two | $ 6.93 million |
| Baseball/Softball Synthetic-Turf | $ 3.52 million |
| GMMS Repairs and Design | $ 3 million |
| Granby Public Library Renovation/Expansion | $ 6 million |
| Total for the four above items | $19.45 million |
| Sewer Pump Maintenance/repair/upgrades | $1.50 million |
| Pickleball Courts/Bathroom Salmon Brook Park | $0.50 million |
How will we fund these capital items if the voters approve of them?
As I’ve discussed in past Drummer columns, Granby bonds for large capital items approximately once every seven years to maintain financial flexibility and stability. The Town of Granby has comparatively low bonded indebtedness with $12 million of outstanding debt as of June 30, 2025.
The debt is layered from three bond issues with each having annual debt service of about $600 thousand per year, or $1.8 million in total. The Town of Granby usually issues debt over a 20-year life.
Because the town desires to keep debt service in the annual budget stable at around $1.8 million annually, and because one of the bond issues is fully paid after FY26, it will allow $600 thousand of debt service to be reprogrammed to fund new debt service for new capital priorities. This is important to understand.
While Granby has a significant number of capital needs, it has exercised great restraint and austerity when sizing bonded debt to address those capital needs. By using the same debt service that is currently in place, and using the financial levers at the board of finance’s disposal, coupled with delayed bond issuance based on needed cash flow, we can issue $19.45 million of bonds/debt (for first four items) with no increase to debt service—which means the mill rate and taxes will not increase due to this bond initiative for the next five years. This was carefully examined during the CPPAC public workshops.
With respect to the fifth and sixth items on the list, debt service attributable to those capital projects will be paid from the Sewer Utility Fund and the Parks and Recreation Fund respectively, not taxpayer funds. Both of those funds are separate Special Revenue Funds with revenue derived from user fees and expenses separate and distinct from the General Fund.
Hopefully, this explanation gives you an understanding of the budget and capital requests that you will have direct input and approval over at the voting booth in the months of April and June.
If you have any questions on the information presented here, please reach out to me at 860-844-5302 or Mwalsh@Granby-CT.Gov as I always welcome the opportunity to discuss town issues.