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Winchester board moves $136,056 state grant into town revenue to lower proposed 2027 mill rate
Summary
The Winchester Board of Selectmen voted unanimously May 4 to record a $136,056 state grant as town revenue rather than change the appropriated budget, a step the town manager said lowers the proposed FY2027 mill‑rate increase from about 3.29% to roughly 2.85%. The larger education supplement (about $320,998) will go directly to the local board of education and may not be used to supplant local funding.
On May 4, 2026, the Winchester Board of Selectmen unanimously approved moving $136,056 of supplemental state aid into a town revenue line to reduce the town’s FY2027 mill‑rate ask while leaving the announced appropriation unchanged.
Town Manager Harrington told the board the money comes from SB01 and characterized the funding as three separate "buckets": two supplemental education grants and one town grant. He said the procedural choice the board faced was whether to change the appropriated budget now (which would require re‑notice and a referendum) or keep the appropriation intact and record the $136,056 as a revenue source that lowers the amount the town needs to raise from property taxes. Harrington said that accounting change would reduce the proposed mill‑rate increase from about 3.29% to roughly 2.85%.
Harrington read portions of the bill to explain how the funding is structured and cautioned about legal limits. As he read aloud, "such grant shall not be used to supplant local funding for educational purposes," and he stressed the larger education supplement (about $320,998) is to be paid to the Department of Education and expended only for educational purposes by the local board of education.
Following discussion, the board approved a motion to increase the townside grant revenue line (the Mashantucket/Pequot/Mohegan line) by $136,056—raising the line from $49,474 to $185,530—and to present the unchanged $42,296,00 appropriation at the May 11 annual town meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
Harrington said the town sought legal advice and that the language of SB01 constrains how education grant dollars can be used; he urged careful messaging to the public so residents understand which funds the board can control and which must be spent by the board of education.
The board did not change the education appropriation during the meeting; Harrington said any supplemental education money received would be routed to the board of education and would not permit the town to ‘‘supplant’’ previously‑planned local education funding.
What happens next: the board will present the FY2027 proposed appropriation unchanged at the May 11 town meeting; if voters approve that appropriation the town will set the mill rate accordingly. Town staff said they will follow up publicly with the precise numbers used to set the mill rate after the vote.
