Simsbury presents FY26 school budget and a town spending plan that would raise taxes about 2.3%

Superintendent Matt Curtis presented the Simsbury Board of Education's proposed fiscal 2026 operating budget — a 3.91% increase that would put the school system's total expenditures at $89,160,028. Town officials said that, taken together with selectmen and debt service items, the current package would produce a townwide tax increase of roughly 2.32% and a median-home tax impact of about $205.

The board of education budget, Curtis said, was organized into three buckets: fixed costs, operations and special education. "At the end of the day, with all the movement in fixed costs, we land at a 1.61% increase over last year's operating costs," Curtis said, then detailed other drivers that bring the full school request to 3.91%.

Why it matters: special-education costs and contractual payroll make up the largest shares of the school budget and are the primary upward pressures on the town tax rate. Curtis told the board that salaries and benefits account for roughly 80% of the district's operating costs; special education consumes about 24.5% of operating dollars, roughly in line with the district's peer group (DURG average), and out-of-district tuition increases are the single largest special-education driver in the FY26 request.

Most important facts - Proposed school operating increase: 3.91%; proposed town tax increase (current package): about 2.32%. - Total proposed school expenditures: $89,160,028 (as presented by Superintendent Matt Curtis). -…