The Town Council decided to vote for the final budget on May 18, with another special session on Wednesday to discuss issues further. The later date may have an impact on the release date of tax bills, but after input from Councillor Ouellette they decided it was the most practical date.

Zimmerman then summarized the Town Council’s adjustments to the budget proposal. They had previously spent a few thousands dollars on a new police officer and donations to a homeless shelter, and decided to cut funds for the Watershed History Collective, Emergency Management PPE, a library assistant director promotion, and youth and adult library books, all for a few thousand dollars, while over two million is set to be cut from capital projects (although new potential grant funding could minimize this cut). He also mentioned two new amounts of state aid, one for education and a supplemental pequot grant.

Mayor Zimmerman presented the 2026-2027 Fiscal Year Town Budget. He began by showing photos that reinforced his belief that South Windsor is a special town, with photos of astronaut Jack Hathaway, the SWHS graduation, the new playground, and Evergreen Walk. Before moving on he mentioned the fact that the town council sets the ‘bottom line’ for the budget amount of the Board of Education and the Capital Project Budget. The Capital Project Budget contained things like energy efficiency, new police vehicles, and SWHS classroom modifications, which all had anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000. Moving on, he listed the factors influencing the final budget, such as the grand list (or the total value of real estate in town) and the tax stabilization fund (money saved to prevent higher taxes). He delivered a staggering statistic: in order to cut taxes by just 1%, they would need to take $1,400,000 out of the budget. He also displayed slides comparing inflation rates and tax changes rates as well as development and spending. Another chart showed the steady increase of students, with over 1,000 more since 2016. In terms of the future budget, he highlighted the need to consider the increasing need for staffing and services, increasing costs, the use of the tax stabilization fund, and more, with particularly emphasis on the lack of fair State ECS Funding.

Councilor Mike Ouelette updated the council on the April 14 Planning and Zoning Meeting, which discussed the warehouse development at 25 Talbot Road. The appeal was handed back to the committee, and although three speakers spoke against it, Planning and Zoning was forced to approve the plan in accordance with Judge O’Hanlan’s earlier ruling.

The council then approved the minutes for their last meetings after Audrey Delnicki brought up some amendments, including noting the absences of a councilor and the town attorney, as well as spelling errors. The amended minutes were then passed unanimously.

There were two public comments during the designated session. The first was by Steve Wagner, who wanted to thank the council, especially for bringing up e-bikes, an issue that they had noticed as well. The second was by the Secretary of the SW Patriotic Commission, requesting $10,300 in order to make up for the increasing price of fireworks and other necessary resources. She highlighted the pride they take in the Patriotic Commission, and asked that the town council attend Armed Forces Day.

The town manager provided important updates on the town. They described the growing problem of e-bikes in the town, particularly in relation to youth. Maniscalco also mentioned the sidewalks being replaced outside the town hall, and the new town attorney that was recently hired.

Mayor Zimmerman opened the May 4th Town Council meeting promptly at 7pm, reviewing town events after the official roll call. The Deputy Mayor then reviewed the agenda for the meeting, which involved resuming previous discussions and reviewing town updates. They made remarks about the busy month of May, mentioning events like the Drug Take Back Day (which SWHS’s SADD Club participated in) and the upcoming Memorial Day celebrations.

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