The Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) met on Tuesday, March 31, to finalize the 2026-2027 budget. The result? A $543 million spending plan that covers everything from school operations and healthcare to an unprecedented list of capital projects. While the headline focuses on total spending, the real story for homeowners is buried in the "tax levy"—the actual amount the town needs to collect from you . The Capital Wish List The Town is moving forward this year wi

With the Dorothy Hamill Rink and Strazza baseball field projects now confirmed to occupy 48% of the total acreage  at Byram's Morlot Park, First Selectman Fred Camillo has unveiled a surprise proposal to utilize the remaining western corner. The plan, titled the "Camillo Canine Commons," ("CCC") would transform the final undeveloped patch of green space into a world-class, residents-only dog sanctuary. The park would be nestled near the Veterans Memorial Tree Grove, but no

On Tuesday, March 17, 2026, the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) unanimously approved the preliminary site plan to redevelop Morlot Park in Byram. What began as a Dorothy Hamill replacement rink has morphed into a complete redevelopment of the park into a world-class recreational area in the heart of a dense Byram neighborhood. Pros & Cons At the meeting, proponents argued for the urgent need for an update to keep the town’s hockey programs viable. Opponents coun

The Town of Greenwich recently took title to seven foreclosed properties. Because these are now town assets, selling them isn't as simple as calling a realtor. It triggers a formal "disposal of municipal assets" process. This week, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted 3-0 to refer these properties to Planning & Zoning (P&Z) for Municipal Improvement (MI) status. The List of Properties The Town of Greenwich obtained title to these 7 parcels over the past year through tax lien fo

For the third consecutive year, Connecticut has secured a spot on a national leaderboard that no homeowner wants to see. According to the 2026 report here from the Tax Foundation, using the latest Census Bureau data, Connecticut officially maintains the third-highest effective property tax rate in the nation for the third consecutive year.  Trailing only New Jersey and Illinois, Connecticut’s heavy reliance on property taxes to fund local government continues to make it on

On Tuesday, March 3, the Greenwich Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Commission took a critical step in reviewing the MI (Municipal Improvement) and preliminary site plan for a new ice hockey rink (a.k.a. skating arena) near the Dorothy Hamill Rink in Eugene Morlot Memorial Park. Approval is being sought for a significantly larger 40,671-square-foot, 35-foot-high ice skating arena. Once completed, the existing 31,258-square-foot (approximately 25-foot-high) Dorothy Hamill Rink will b

Like hospitals, the nursing home business has survived the pressure of tight margins and insurance reimbursement gaps through massive consolidation. For example, Greenwich Hospital is now a pillar of the Yale New Haven Network, leveraging the network's massive purchasing power and shared administrative costs to remain viable. Nathaniel Witherell remains an island. In Connecticut, there are approximately 195 nursing facilities across the state, the vast majority are private

The "Letters to the Editor" section of the Greenwich Free Press is no stranger to heated exchanges. From property taxes to residency length, the debate between private citizens is a Greenwich tradition. But when a sitting Town official—entrusted with gatekeeping power over millions in infrastructure—uses their platform to publicly mock a resident for exercising their right to dissent, the issue shifts from "spirited debate" to a question of official conduct. The recent escal

First Selectman Fred Camillo recently released his "Community Connection" newsletter here addressing confusion regarding the newly completed revaluation of the Town's grand list and what it means for your property taxes. There are a lot of moving parts. Chair of the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET), David Weisbrod (D) said here that the average 27% increase in property values will not increase your taxes, unless your home's value has increased more than 27%—i.e., you l

Roger Sherman Baldwin (RSB) Park, a coastal waterfront jewel on Greenwich Harbor, adjacent to I-95 Exit 3 and the Greenwich Train Station, is in the spotlight. The historic red-brick building, formerly home to the Arch Street Teen Center, stands at the park's entrance. It is at this park where the popular Greenwich Town Party happens annually in May and where the ferries launch to Island Beach and Great Captain's Island. Re-imagining the Arch Street Building: On January 29,

Republican State Senator Ryan Fazio has made a central promise in his 2026 gubernatorial race: removing the "public benefit charge" from your utility bill. We all saw our electric bills skyrocket, but for a long time, no one knew why. It wasn't until Fazio pushed through legislation requiring utilities to separate and disclose these charges that the truth came out. That charge—representing about 20% of your bill—was being used to subsidize green energy projects and unpaid

The Town budget for 2026-27 was presented to the public on Tuesday January 27 and it is a whopper. Projected annual operating spending is $543 million, the capital budget is a staggering $100 million per year, and a surprisingly large cutback in federal and state funding could mean an aggregate property tax increase of +6.85%. Based on the existing grand list values, taxpayers could face a mill rate of 12.765, an increase of +6.01%. First Selectman Camillo's presentation i

Ten months after convening a second task force to study the replacement of the town-owned Dorothy Hamill Ice Rink, First Selectman Fred Camillo has his answer. The task force officially recommended building the new rink adjacent to the current 54-year-old facility in Eugene Morlot Memorial Park—a plan commonly known as "the flip." You can read the full report here. The slow road to consensus. The recommendation is essentially the same "flip" proposed by the Selectman two y

The "phased occupied" renovation of Old Greenwich School (OGS) was pitched as the pragmatic choice—a way to modernize while keeping the location intact and the costs under control. However, as 2026 rolls in, the numbers suggest that "pragmatic" is becoming synonymous with "pricey." The rising cost of staying put. When the project was first greenlit, the vision was a $43 million overhaul with a 2025 start date. Fast-forward to today, and the math has changed drastically. At

The story first leaked on December 18, 2025, in the Greenwich Democrat Town Committee newsletter here . The reconstituted Hamill Rink Task Force had come to a decision. The task force unanimously recommended a "modified flip" for the new rink. Wait — isn't this the same flip recommended by Selectman Camillo two years ago and the same flip that was rejected by the town legislative body (RTM) back in January 2025? The newsletter was written with a fawning display of praise fo

Leading up to the Greenwich Board of Education (BOE) meeting (video here ) on Thursday, December 18, the clamor to halt any school staffing cuts reached a fever pitch. For days, letters to the editor poured in from the teacher's union and staff. During the first hour of the school board meeting every speaker - from teachers and students to PTA members - seemed to be singing from the same playbook: "Delay, don't cut." But a look at the actual ledger suggests a more complex

The 2025 town-wide revaluation of Greenwich real estate is underway. Since the last revaluation in 2021, residential assessed property valuations have risen about 29% to $38.2 billion. This higher valuation should make you happy, assuming you already live here, because it means there is larger base of property values to absorb town operating expenses. However, if you live in a "hot" Greenwich neighborhood, such as Central Greenwich (D1), more of the tax burden will be shif

Last week, the Greenwich school board heard a presentation about options to renovate or rebuild the GHS pool. The pool feasibility study was presented here. For $8 million you get a renovated pool and 1-2 year relocation during the process. For $60 million you get a brand new Olympic sized pool and eight new relocated tennis courts. The pool was constructed in 1968 and is significantly out of compliance with current codes. Compliance issues include diving height clearanc

A public meeting of the finance board (BET) chaired by Harry Fisher and First Selectman Camillo was held last week to obtain input from residents on capital projects. Many comments were made about improving the process for tracking the estimated $1.6 billion backlog of capital projects including making multi-year projections, prioritizing projects, and tracking cost estimates. Here is the recording of the meeting. There were numerous school related requests, including a sec

Last year the sky was falling. We were told the Greenwich public schools are underfunded - even though Greenwich spends the most per pupil ($28,000) of any school in the state. It was a year ago, that Superintendent Toni Jones requested another large +5.4% increase ($12 million) to the school budget, well above the finance board's (BET) non-binding guideline of 2.96%. To achieve a compromised 3.5% increase ($8 million), the schools responded with painful cuts, including a