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Town Manager presents FY26/27 budget with modest increases, recommends support for volunteer ambulance
Summary
Town Manager Mr. Nelson called the FY26/27 recommended budget "challenging," citing 0.9% grand list growth, reduced investment income, rising health insurance costs and a recommendation to commit $160,000 to the Simsbury Volunteer Ambulance Association plus up to $60,000 more for a new ambulance. A budget workshop is scheduled for Feb. 28.
Town Manager Mr. Nelson presented the FY26/27 recommended budget to the Simsbury Board of Selectmen on Feb. 18, calling it "a challenging budget" and describing the presentation as a starting point for the board's budget workshop on Feb. 28.
Nelson said the town is projecting grand list growth of 0.9 percent, expects about $500,000 less in projected investment income and is facing a significant increase in health insurance costs. He cited proposed budget figures including a Board of Education request up 2.77 percent, a town operating budget increase of 2.99 percent, debt service down 5.13 percent, non-public schools up 5.80 percent and total gross expenditures up 2.24 percent.
He outlined a proposed real estate and personal property mill rate increase from 33.02 to 33.74 (excluding the Fire District), estimating an impact of about $227 per household. Nelson noted benefits and insurance represent roughly 6.26 percent of the budget and said the town is keeping a healthy unassigned fund balance and maintaining its AAA bond rating.
On public safety funding, Nelson recommended supporting the Simsbury Volunteer Ambulance Association at $160,000 (already committed in an MOU) and funding up to $60,000 in additional support for a new ambulance. He proposed using $60,000 from the opioid settlement fund and $100,000 from capital reserves to match the SVAA capital campaign.
Nelson proposed a staffing reallocation to support economic development: convert a full-time library position into a shared Library/Economic Development position and reduce the Main Street Partnership allocation from $85,000 to $35,000. He described this as intended to bolster economic development while remaining cost-neutral.
Mr. Nelson said the budget book does not include the Capital Non-Recurring (CNR) list this year and that some items will be deferred, paid for by reserves, or moved into the CIP or operating budget. He asked selectmen to forward questions to Ms. Appleby so staff could research answers in advance of the Feb. 28 workshop. No motion was taken on the budget at the Feb. 18 meeting.
