Farmington voters approve $143.2M town and school budget in referendum

Farmington just finished the part of local budgeting that actually matters most for taxpayers — the referendum. On Thursday, April 30, voters approved the town’s FY 2026-27 budget, which covers both municipal government and the school system. That locks in a combined spending plan of about $143.2 million and spares the Town Council from having to go back, revise it, and try again. Turnout was light, but the result still settles the question for the coming fiscal year. ### What exactly passed? The approved referendum covers Farmington’s combined town-and-school operating budget for fiscal 2026-27. Farmington’s budget process runs through public hearings, Town Council workshops, an Annual Town Meeting, and then a townwide referendum. This year’s referendum happened on April 30, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., after the Annual Town Meeting on April 20. ### Why is the number so big? Because this is really several budgets bundled together. The combined figure includes school spending, town operations, debt service, and capital improvements. A local preview of the plan pegged the total at $143.2 million, up 4.74% from the current year, which gives you a sense of why the referendum mattered — it sets. ### How many people actually voted? Not many. Farmington’s own posted results show 950 total votes out of 18,707 eligible voters, for turnout of 5.08%. Of those, 936 were cast in person on Election Day and 14 were absentee ballots. That’s the part that always feels strange in municipal budgeting — a decision that affects every property owner and every school can be settled by a very small slice of the electorate. ### Does low turnout change the result? No — not procedurally. A referendum win is a referendum win. The practical point is that the town now avoids a backup path that was already on the calendar. Farmington had a Town Council meeting set for May 1 only if the referendum failed, and the town indicated that meeting would be canceled if voters approve. ### What happens now? Now the budget moves from proposal to implementation. Departments can plan around an adopted spending level, and the school district can do the same. The town’s budget page already treats the referendum package as the operative FY 2026-27 budget document, which is basically the administrative handoff from debate to execution. ### Where do the HVAC projects fit in? They matter because Farmington is also juggling a broader capital pipeline, especially around buildings. In April, the Planning and Zoning Commission backed a multi-year plan to upgrade ventilation systems at all four elementary schools, with work proposed to begin in 2027 if funded. So even though the headline is about the budget, long-term facilities work is moving too. ### Why should anyone outside town hall care? Because school-heavy suburban budgets are where a lot of local tradeoffs show up first — taxes, facilities, debt, staffing, and deferred maintenance. Farmington’s vote means those tradeoffs are now settled for the next fiscal year, at least on paper, and town leaders can move on from selling the budget to living inside it. ### Bottom line The big news is simple: Farmington got its budget through on the first try. The more interesting detail is how little turnout it took to decide a $143.2 million plan.