Selectmen forward $186.9 million budget, flag 6.2% tax hike
Board of Selectmen · Meeting of January 29, 2026
New Canaan selectmen forward a $186.9 million budget but call the 6.2% tax hike behind it unsustainable. The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the fiscal 2027 general fund budget, including $172,665,942 to be raised through taxation, after a marathon line-by-line review with town and school officials. "Right now, the amount to be raised through taxation is at 6.2% year-over-year, which is not a sustainable number," the presiding First Selectman said, asking the Board of Finance to cut it by "a percentage, percentage and a half." Selectmen recommended pulling roughly $2.6 million from the Board of Education's capital request, including a $1.4 million high school PA and security system and about $650,000 in carpeting, and pushed a $1 million softball turf project back a year.
Town operating costs rose 2%; Board of Education operating costs rose 3.9%. Officials also announced a $1.092 million federal grant for a wastewater treatment UV upgrade.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 1,121 words
Source: the Board of Selectmen meeting of January 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
NEW CANAAN — January 29, 2026 — The New Canaan Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Thursday to forward a $186.9 million proposed fiscal 2027 budget to the Board of Finance, warning that a preliminary 6.2 percent increase in the amount to be raised through taxation is "not a sustainable number."
The board spent several hours picking through town and Board of Education spending line by line before approving a general fund operating budget of $186,928,430, including $172,665,942 to be raised through taxation, $9,262,461 in other revenue and a $5 million draw from fund balance. Town department operating costs are proposed to rise 2 percent year over year; Board of Education operating costs, including insurance, are proposed to rise 3.9 percent.
To ease the overall increase, selectmen voted to recommend stripping roughly $2.6 million from the Board of Education's capital request, including a $1.4 million public-address and security system for New Canaan High School, about $650,000 in high school carpet replacement and $50,000 in district painting, on top of a previously removed $500,000 East School paving project. They also pushed a $1 million artificial turf project for two softball fields back a year.
The Full Story
The board's presiding First Selectman opened the session by calling the numbers "troubling," noting that even after holding town operating growth to 2 percent, the combined effect of Board of Education costs, capital and debt service pushes the tax levy up 6.2 percent. The board asked the Board of Finance and Town Council to find a way to bring that down "a percentage, percentage and a half," using a rough rule that every $800,000 trimmed from operating expenses equals about a half percentage point of tax relief. Officials said Board of Education spending, once debt service and health-insurance costs are factored in, makes up roughly 68 percent of the combined town-and-schools total against 32 percent for town operations.
Brian, who presented the Board of Education's budget request, told the board enrollment stands at about 4,000 students, with staffing up just 0.5 full-time positions year over year. The district eliminated its director of digital learning position and folded that work into the director of innovation's role, while adding a lower-paid curriculum specialist position to cover science curriculum work formerly done by that office. The budget also includes a 1.2-position "enrollment variability adjustment" for grades in danger of exceeding class-size guidelines. On capital, selectmen said they were comfortable deferring the PA/security system and carpet work but flagged concern about deferred roof work, including at Saxe Middle School, where a full pitched-roof replacement was estimated near $5 million.
On the town side, selectmen left two long-vacant positions, a junior engineer and a purchasing agent, in the budget despite repeated recruitment failures, after staff said the job descriptions would be revised rather than the positions cut. The town's insurance broker review allowed officials to hold the health-insurance line flat, trimming about $200,000 from a $6.8 million line item. A discrepancy in the fire marshal's office salary allocation, split between departments, was flagged for the finance staff to correct before the final vote.
On capital and debt, officials said the town has about $13 million in principal debt rolling off this year against roughly $20 million in new capital requests, and that debt service is being held near a target of 10 percent of the budget, down from about 13 percent in past years. Larger Waveny Park projects, including roughly $4 million in HVAC work and about $360,000 for exterior doors, were flagged for deeper review by the Board of Finance. Officials also announced the town has been awarded a $1.092 million federal grant for a UV treatment upgrade at the wastewater treatment facility, a self-supporting project funded through sewer users, crediting help from Jim Hines in securing it.
"Right now, the amount to be raised through taxation is at 6.2% year-over-year, which is not a sustainable number." — First Selectman, presiding officer of the Board of Selectmen
"We love you, but 6.2 is not, will not hold. We cannot do that to our taxpayers." — a Selectman, addressing Brian during the Board of Education budget review
"We looked at we, when we analyze what our ask would be, we also analyze based upon what our capabilities are, as far as staffing." — Tiger, the town's public works director, on whether the capital list is achievable
Why It Matters
Every New Canaan taxpayer's bill is tied to the number selectmen just forwarded. A 6.2 percent increase in the tax levy, if it survives Board of Finance and Town Council review unchanged, would be the largest jump officials described in years; they are pushing to land closer to 5 percent or lower. The deferred items, the high school PA and security system, softball field turf and high school carpeting, could still be added back if the Board of Education makes the case to the Board of Finance in the coming weeks.
The Board of Finance now has roughly a month to review the budget, followed by Town Council review; the tax mill rate itself is not set until later in the year. Residents watching for tax relief should track whether the town's bonding plans and unspent tax-supported capital funds, which officials estimated could offset up to a percentage point of the increase, actually materialize.
Key Motions & Votes
- Vote: Approve today's meeting agenda Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve Board of Selectmen minutes of January 20, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve Board of Selectmen minutes of January 22, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve total general fund operating expenditures budget ($186,928,430), covering town department operating ($43,521,453), Board of Education operating and health insurance transfer ($118,283,765), Board of Education expenses paid by the town ($5,679,221), tax-funded capital ($1,436,493), debt service ($12,834,742), contingencies ($722,789), library ($3,119,000) and transfers/outside agencies ($1,330,941) Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve total general fund revenue budget ($9,262,461) Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve fund balance contribution recommendation ($5 million) Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve amount to be raised by taxation ($172,665,942) Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve final total general fund operating budget ($186,928,430) Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve sewer fund operating, capital and revenue budget (operating $1,866,477; non-bonded capital $156,000; total $2,022,477) Tally: Approved unanimously - Vote: Approve other funds budgets, including recreation, parking, railroad, Waveny pool and a movie-theater-related pool fund (total expense budget $2,399,644) Tally: Approved unanimously - Action: Fee memos submitted with the budget approved as filed — Noted as previously completed, not a live vote at this meeting - Vote: Motion to adjourn Tally: Approved unanimously
Source
Town Of New Canaan: Board of Selectmen meeting, January 29, 2026