The Farmington Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to set the property tax rate at 27.36 mils for fiscal year 2026–27 and to divide an unexpected $1.7 million state aid grant between this year's taxpayers and a financial reserve for next year, when a scheduled property revaluation has the council thinking carefully about what's coming.
The vote came after a debate short enough in duration and narrow enough in disagreement that the more interesting question was less "what should we do" than "exactly how much this year versus next."
The Money
State Representative Mike Demicco, D-21st District, had the context during public comment. The recently concluded Connecticut legislative session, he explained, had been weighing a $200 direct rebate to every state resident. The legislature changed course.
"The decision was made that it would be more prudent to give whatever money that we could, supplemental money, to the towns for education purposes and just for municipal purposes," Demicco told the council.
For Farmington, the result was approximately $1.8 million in supplemental grants: $1,669,896 in municipal aid, distributed through the Pequot Mohegan grant mechanism, and a separate $148,320 in supplemental education funding. Demicco said Farmington's allocation, measured as a percentage increase, put it among the top recipients in the state.
"I think it's one of the three or four largest percentage increases of all the towns in the state of Connecticut," he said. "It was really a good win for Farmington."
The Options
Town Manager Kathleen Blonski and Finance Director Joseph Swetcky Jr. had laid out the scenarios. The decision concerned only the $1,669,896 municipal portion; the education supplement, Blonski said, carries requirements that are still being evaluated, and the school department needs to be part of any decision on it before the council acts.
For the municipal money, the math had three columns.
Apply all of it: the tax increase over the prior year falls to 2.12 percent, a mill increase of 0.5, adding $169 to the bill on an average Farmington home.
Apply half: the tax increase holds at 2.8 percent, a mill increase of 0.74, adding $223–224 to the average home — about $50 less than the pre-grant baseline.
Hold the other half: $835,000 in reserve for the revaluation year ahead.
Blonski described the dilemma plainly. "I think it's going to be a tough year," she said of the revaluation, "and using part of it next year to help the tax rate, I think is the intent, too — is that you're helping it this year, and you're going to help it next year."
The Pequot Mohegan grant, she noted, is not guaranteed to recur.
The Debate
Not everyone agreed the council should hold anything back.
Resident Tim Kelly pushed during public comment for using the full million — after zeroing out the $800,000 fund balance appropriation already in the adopted budget. "We need to insert the additional revenue into the budget plan and let it drop to the bottom line of the spreadsheet as relief to taxpayers," Kelly said. "There may be folks coming forward with priority lists of ways to help you spend this money. You need to resist the urge."
Council Member Patricia Boye-Williams, D-2nd District, took up the fund balance question directly. She noted the town has appropriated from fund balance for multiple years without actually drawing it — meaning the appropriation functions more as a hedge against revenue shortfalls than a real expenditure.
"By allocating the fund balance, it also means we're not taxing the residents for that $800,000," Boye-Williams said. "I think there's benefits to our residents to appropriate the $800,000 fund balance this year."
On the broader split, the council aligned quickly. Council Member Keith Vibert, R-2nd District, said he wanted a decision before the meeting ended.
"I would love to see some of that money go to fund balance so that we have some money for next year," Vibert said. "We are concerned it could be a bad year. And I believe the intent of this was to give something back to taxpayers." He proposed a 50/50 split.
Council Member Bill Beckert, D-2nd District, agreed. "I think we have responsibility to reduce the tax burden," Beckert said. "And we can do that and also be smart about next year with respect to reval."
Council Member Bruce Polsky, D-1st District, called the emerging consensus "the most Connecticut decision we could probably name." Chair Brian F. X. Connolly, D-At-Large, closed the deliberation.
"50-50 is nice and clean," Connolly said. "It's all going to the town evenly, equitably, so I think that's fair."
The Vote
Council Member Boye-Williams made the formal motion. The mill rate of 27.36 would be levied on the net taxable Grand List of October 1, 2025 — assessed at $4,612,782,764 — for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Property taxes are due in two equal installments on July 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027, with motor vehicle taxes due in full on July 1. The solid waste service charge was set at $281.
The motion also formally amended the adopted budget: the state revenue grant account — the supplemental Pequot Mohegan grant — would increase by $835,000, with property tax revenue reduced by the same amount. The amendment's authority derives from Section 178 of Substitute Senate Bill 1, as amended by Section 506 of House Bill 5563, both approved by the Connecticut General Assembly on May 6, 2026.
The vote was unanimous.
The adopted budget itself was, as Swetcky noted Tuesday, "approved at referendum — or... approved by default" in the April 30 town vote — 950 ballots cast, a turnout of roughly five percent.
The $148,320 in supplemental education aid remains unresolved. Blonski said the council would return to it once the legal requirements attached to that money are clearer and the school department has been consulted.
Also from Tuesday's meeting: the council advanced a $30–35 million fire-station overhaul and took up a renewed proposal to build a cemetery at Don Tinty Park.
The Farmington Mercury is brought to you by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road — the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. Which is to say: the things you've set aside for safekeeping are preserved at institutional grade, whether they've earned that distinction or not. Your tax dollars have been similarly conserved, half of them anyway. 860.777.4001 📦
— Jack Beckett has covered Farmington's town budget process long enough to appreciate a unanimous vote on a fiscal question. He is on his second coffee. He has read the entire motion, including the part about Section 12-144, subsection A. He regrets nothing. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers the town nobody else is covering — the zoning meeting that ran until 10 p.m., the police log that is technically public record but that you'd never find unless someone typed it up, the budget vote that determines how much you'll pay in property taxes next year. We publish slowly, deliberately, and without apology. Our motto is "Always last to breaking news" and we stand behind it: by the time you read this, the dust has settled, the facts are checked, and Jack Beckett has had at least two cups of coffee. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell your neighbors. #WeAreFarmington 📰