Farmington voters to decide $143.2M town‑school budget that could raise local taxes

Farmington voters are set to decide the town’s 2026-27 combined town and school budget in a referendum on Thursday, April 30. (farmington-ct.org) Polls are scheduled to open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at four locations: Irving A. Robbins Middle School, West Woods Upper Elementary School, the Community/Senior Center in Unionville, and the Farmington Public Library. (farmington-ct.org) The referendum follows Farmington’s Annual Town Meeting on April 20 at Farmington High School, where residents could comment before the question moved to a townwide vote. The meeting was livestreamed on Zoom, but public comment was limited to people attending in person. (patch.com) (farmington-ct.org) Town budget documents posted by Farmington list fiscal 2026-27 referendum materials under “Town Meeting Recommended Budget,” with the vote scheduled for April 30. The same budget page shows the process moving from the town manager’s March 10 recommendation to the Town Council’s April 6 proposed budget and then the April 20 town meeting. (farmington-ct.org) An earlier version of the spending plan presented by Town Manager Kathleen A. Blonski totaled $142,579,394, up $5.8 million, or 4.25 percent, from the current year. That proposal included $86.9 million for the Farmington Board of Education and $37.5 million for town operations. (patch.com) That March proposal also pointed to a property tax rate of 27.50 mills, a 0.88-mill increase. For a home assessed at $301,455, Patch reported that would mean about $265 more in annual taxes than this year. (patch.com) Residents raised questions during budget review about school enrollment, nonprofit funding, sidewalk planning and capital projects. Superintendent Jess Giannini said projected student enrollment was expected to remain generally stable over the next several years. (patch.com) Some speakers pushed to preserve support for HOPE Partners and senior services, while others criticized large capital items including work at the Old Town Hall Annex and school air-conditioning plans. Those debates shaped the weeks of workshops and hearings that led to the referendum now before voters. (patch.com) (farmington-ct.org) Farmington used the same referendum model last year. Voters approved the 2025-26 combined budget, then set at $136.77 million, by a 593-392 margin. (patch.com) That 2025-26 approval raised the tax rate from 25.45 mills to 26.62 mills, and Patch reported an extra $351 in property taxes for a home assessed at $300,000. Thursday’s vote will decide whether Farmington locks in another higher spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. (patch.com)