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Simsbury selectmen set May 9 referendum, approve FY2025–26 operating and capital budgets
Summary
At a special April 22 meeting the Simsbury Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to submit four budget questions to a May 9, 2025 referendum, approved proposed FY2025–26 operating appropriations and a capital projects list, and authorized a budget mailer.
The Simsbury Board of Selectmen voted unanimously April 22 to send four spending questions to an automatic referendum on Friday, May 9, 2025, and approved the town and school operating budgets and a capital plan for fiscal year 2025–26.
Under motions read into the record pursuant to the town charter, the amounts submitted for referendum are: Board of Education operating budget, $88,823,111; Board of Selectmen operating budget, $29,624,001; sewer-use/residential property/parks and recreation special revenue funds, $8,089,891; and capital, capital nonrecurring and debt service budgets, $16,103,435. The board set the referendum for May 9, 2025, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Simsbury Town Hall, 933 Hopmeadow Street, as required by charter sections referenced during the meeting.
Why it matters: the questions together put the town’s and school district’s FY2025–26 spending levels and a package of capital projects before voters, determining tax-supported operating and capital commitments for the coming year.
Votes at a glance
- Referendum questions (approved for submission to referendum): • Board of Education operating budget — $88,823,111 — motion passed unanimously (mover/second not specified in the record). • Board of Selectmen operating budget — $29,624,001 — motion passed unanimously (mover/second not specified in the record). • Sewer-use and related special revenue funds — $8,089,891 — motion passed unanimously (mover/second not specified in the record). • Capital, capital nonrecurring, and debt service — $16,103,435 — motion passed unanimously (mover/second not specified in the record).
Capital projects and allocations approved for inclusion in the FY2025–26 capital plan included several bond-funded and nonbond items that were read into the record and adopted by motion. Select highlights from the list provided to the board: highway pavement management — $1,700,000; sidewalk reconstruction — $223,400; Eno Hall entrance improvement (supplemental) — $500,000; Two Farms Village renovations — $400,000. Nonbond general purpose projects included a public works highway truck replacement and plow ($258,000) and a Terrafill connection / East Coast Greenway gap-closure project ($450,000). Sewer-use assessment and grant-funded work included installation of a septic receiving station ($361,000). School bond projects listed district security improvements ($250,000) and district paving ($600,000). All items were approved by unanimous vote.
The board also reviewed and approved the town’s FY2025–26 budget mailer to be distributed to voters. During that discussion members noted corrected text and a decision not to include a QR code on the mailer due to space constraints. Board members discussed the order of items and wording in the mailer’s black box that lists the referendum questions; no changes that would affect the amounts submitted to referendum were made at the meeting.
The meeting adjourned after the mailer motion was approved. The next formal step is the referendum on May 9, 2025; no additional board action on the FY2025–26 appropriations occurred at the April 22 special meeting.
