Wolcott Town Council adopts FY 2026–27 budgets and lowers mill rate to 28.90

WOLCOTT — The Wolcott Town Council on June 2 adopted the town’s General Government budget of $27,522,733 and the Board of Education budget of $44,589,296 for fiscal year 2026–2027, and set the property tax rate at 28.90 mills.

Councilmember Joseph Skerritt moved to adopt the General Government budget, seconded by Maggie Gugliotti; that motion passed on a 5–4 roll call. The Board of Education budget was adopted on a separate 5–4 roll call after a motion by Skerritt and a second by Gugliotti. Council also set non-property revenues at $16,169,171, established back property tax collections at $600,000 and set current property tax collections at $55,342,858.

The council based its mill-rate calculation on a grand list of $1,943,918,556 and, after applying an assumed tax collection rate of 98.5 percent, used a taxable base of $1,914,759,778 to calculate the 28.90 mills rate. Councilmember Michael Macary noted one mill on that base equals about $1,914,760 and said reducing the mill rate further would require cuts on the order of millions of dollars.

Councilmember Terri Sheehan proposed alternate budgets for both municipal and education spending that would trim $500,000 from each line; those proposals were discussed but did not carry. During Taxpayer’s Time before the votes, resident Kimberly Belval urged the council to approve the proposed budget and asked that members, if they vote it down, explain which services they propose to cut.

Municipal Finance Officer Susan Hale told the council staff projects a break-even result for the fiscal year and provided detail on the revenue assumptions and outstanding procurement processes that informed the draft budget.

The council’s adoption of these figures completes the town’s formal budget-setting steps for FY 2026–2027; the council adjourned at 8:40 p.m.