Granby is a town that practices “direct democracy.” What does that mean? It means you, the voters, through the ballot box, choose your elected officials every other November, you approve the town’s annual budget in April and, periodically, you are asked to go to the polls to approve spending and funding for large infrastructure (capital) improvements. Granby’s transparency to voters is both unique and responsive.
With respect to infrastructure (capital) improvement spending, here’s the process that is unfolding now, as some important funding decisions are being examined and will be presented to voters in the future.
Capital decision making starts with the Granby Charter, Section 10-2–Finance and Taxation. That section outlines the town manager’s duties on the budget and particularly on the town’s capital improvement projects. The process is as follows:
As a part of the annual budget or as a separate report attached thereto, the Town Manager shall present a program concerning proposed Town Capital improvement projects (municipal and school) for the ensuing fiscal year and for the four fiscal years thereafter.
This report was expanded to 10 years and approved by the board of selectmen on Oct. 6, 2025, and referred to the Capital Program Priority Advisory Committee (CPPAC) for its review and recommendation.
What is CPPAC you ask? Back to the Town Charter for that answer:
The proposed municipal and school capital projects shall be analyzed jointly by the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, Board of Education, or representatives thereof, and other appropriate officials to evaluate for timing and budget impact of the proposed projects.
With the Capital Program Priorities Advisory Committee (CPPAC) reconstituted and meeting in public workshops, the committee has two primary responsibilities: developing criteria for prioritizing capital improvement projects and recommending a capital improvement program schedule to the board of selectmen. When called, CPPAC meetings occur on the first and fourth Mondays at 5 p.m.
After CPPAC completes its work, it will recommend projects over $250,000 to the boards of selectmen and finance who will jointly recommend either through the annual budget appropriation or separate bond referendum, how to fund them. Both require voter approval.
How do we fund large capital improvements?
Granby bonds for large capital items approximately once every seven years to maintain financial flexibility and stability. The Town of Granby has a comparatively low bonded indebtedness with about $13 million of outstanding debt as of June 30, 2024. The debt is layered from three bond issues with each having annual debt service of about $600,000 per year, or $1.8 million in total. The Town of Granby usually issues debt over a 20-year life.
The town desires to keep debt service in the annual budget stable at around $1.8 million annually. Because one of the bond issues is fully paid after FY26, it will allow $600,000 of debt service to be reprogrammed to fund new capital priorities. This is important to understand. While Granby has a significant number of capital needs, Granby has exercised great restraint and austerity when sizing bonded debt to address those capital needs. This means not all needs will be funded.
CPPAC will work to identify capital priorities with variation of priorities being the high school running track, the middle school code renovation, and the library expansion. CPPAC will also consider sewer pump replacements and a pickleball facility at Salmon Brook Park, with those items paid from the Sewer and Parks and Recreation Funds, respectively. CPPAC and/or the community could change these priorities and amounts as the process unfolds.
There are other capital items the town and BOE depend on, like road resurfacing, rolling stock, building improvements, or other equipment where the value is less than $250,000. These items are funded through an annual direct-budget appropriation called “small capital,” and through tax exempt equipment leases negotiated with local banks.
The town accounts for all of this in something called a Capital Fund, which is also prescribed by the Town Charter. Unlike the General Fund which begins each July 1 and ends each June 30, the Capital Fund is project-based, beginning when a project is funded and ending only when a project is completed.
The Capital Fund has no end date for budgetary purposes, allowing funds to be contributed from different fiscal years and different funding sources. Using a Capital Fund is an important budgetary and management tool to maintain control over a complex capital project that may span several years, administrations and employees.
Hopefully, this explanation provides an understanding of the capital prioritization and funding process that is now underway. You have direct input and approval over this process.
If you have any concerns 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.