Like many towns across Connecticut, Granby held three budget referendum votes before passing it on the third try: 1,425 approving and 1,026 rejecting—58 percent to 42 percent. The first budget vote was rejected with nearly the reverse percentages, while the second referendum had a closer tally but still a No.
From the initial $200K reduction by the Board of Finance prior to the first public hearing through the additional adjustments after the first and second budgets were turned down, the full reduction in proposed property tax totals is $900K. This approved budget for fiscal year 2027 begins on July 1.
The mill rate requests were relatively moderate from before the initial BOF reduction to the approved budget (from 2.86 percent to 2.40 percent to 1.93 percent to 0.76 percent). However, most of the public comment and rancor focused on the education component and BOE concerns, rather than the actual projected mill rate changes each adjusted version proposed.
Around the state
Recent news articles—print and online—report that this year, in particular, numerous towns are facing the pressures of rising local government expenses juxtaposed against taxpayer concern and resistance. Voters are citing the levels of increase, sometimes focusing on single items within the proposed budget. In recent weeks, budget referendums in Simsbury passed with a 2.3 percent mill rate change, Avon with 3.41 percent, Farmington with 3.50 percent, West Hartford with 4.4 percent, Suffield with 2.9 percent, New Hartford with 3.58 percent, Barkhamsted with 1.77 percent and Bloomfield set its budget with a 6.81 percent increase.
In recent years, Avon and East Granby saw multiple budget rejections, and last year Windsor Locks’ budget took five attempts before securing public approval. This May, East Granby voters rejected a 2.8 percent mill rate change, and Canton turned down a 4.8 percent mill rate change.
Canton’s case is notable because the town is phasing in revaluation, and in recent years residential values have risen far more than commercial. With revaluation there is now a shift of the tax levy from commercial to residential. This is directly attributable to the relative flatness of commercial/industrial components of any town’s Grand List as compared to residential.
While more commercial can help a town cover its local government expenses, it can be a double-edged sword when residential property values increase at a significantly greater rate than commercial. In Canton, this shifting of the burden meant that a typical homeowner supposedly would have seen an actual increase in tax bills closer to 8 percent, rather than the 4.8 percent solely from the mill rate change—in a single year of a four-year phase-in of revaluation.
Replace inaccurate information with facts
A very real obstacle is the often-inaccurate information out there regarding the budget itself. Those who attend relevant board meetings and/or public hearings in person, view live coverage or the taped versions on GCTV16, or read the Drummer’s budget issue, should get a good sense of the budget itself, and what is or is not in it. There is also information posted on the Town of Granby website.
In a sign of the times, there is a lot of keyboard-warrior banter on social media—some accurate, some inaccurate and some in between. Just to clarify one of the inaccuracies heard regarding capital projects:
The town meeting and subsequent referendum on capital projects will take place after Labor Day. They are not part of the FY27 budget. If approved, any impact from these capital projects will occur in subsequent years. Actual impact on the mill rate, an increase of less than 1 percent, will occur sometime in FY32 or 33. Prior to that, what would have been any impact on the mill rate of the new debt service is offset by the existing debt service declining and a scheduled use of capital-set-aside money through that point in time. In essence, new debt service will replace expiring debt.
Another key factor when considering the annual budget is that an increase in expenditures is not necessarily things being added to the budget. Just as one finds at home, inflation affects everyday costs to the town as well. As an example, most labor contracts are running at about 3 percent, and health plan costs between 5 and 10 percent annually. That boils down to an internal rate of increase in expense of around 2.5 percent just from compensation, which is the biggest component within municipal and school budgets. That doesn’t mean there aren’t particular items that one may question, but it does indicate the impact of the underlying rate of increase within the overall budget.