Farmington's annual budget referendum is Thursday, April 30. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. across four locations. On the ballot: the $143 million FY 2026-27 operating budget and $18.3 million in bonds — a $14.34 million school HVAC upgrade plus a $4 million road and drainage bond. The Mercury has covered each piece of this in its own article over the past month. Here is the short version, with Thursday in view.
Where to vote
Per the Town's polling-places notice:
- Precincts 1 and 2 — Irving A. Robbins Middle School, 20 Wolf Pit Road
- Precincts 3 and 4 — West Woods Upper Elementary School, 50 Judson Lane
- Precincts 5 and 6 — Community/Senior Center, 321 New Britain Avenue, Unionville
- Precinct 7 — Farmington Public Library, 6 Monteith Drive
Polls run continuously from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Absentee ballots
Absentee ballots are available at the Town Clerk's Office on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Wednesday, April 29. Completed ballots can be returned three ways: dropped in the box outside the new Town Hall at 20 Monteith Drive, mailed to the Town Clerk, or delivered in person to the Town Clerk's Office during business hours through Wednesday.
On Thursday, April 30 — referendum day — completed absentee ballots cannot be brought into the Town Clerk's Office. They can only be mailed or placed in the drop box. The drop box closes at 8 p.m. when the polls close.
What you've already read about
- The April 21 referendum announcement — the $143M operating budget, the $18.3M in bonds, what's on the ballot.
- The Annual Town Meeting that endorsed the budget on April 20.
- The $14.34 million HVAC bond explainer — what the bond covers, the 31.79% state reimbursement, and the projected $100,000-a-year electricity line that goes with it.
- The TPZ's April 14 endorsement of the bond project.
- The $143 million budget itself when the Town Council passed it on April 9.
Four locations. One drop box. Polls close at 8 p.m. on Thursday.
A note from our presenting sponsor: Farmington Storage at 155 Scott Swamp Road is the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air — institutional-grade climate control, the kind preservationists use to keep documents from disintegrating. Whatever you decide on Thursday will become part of the public record. Whatever you store with Farmington Storage will be preserved at a similar standard. Both are worth taking seriously. 860.777.4001 | farmingtonstorage.com 📦
— Jack Beckett has read the budget, the HVAC bond, the road and drainage bond, the polling-places notice, and the absentee-ballot procedures. He is on his fourth coffee. The Mercury, as ever, will note the result. ☕
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 board of education vote that determines what your kids learn about 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 📰