Greenwich taxing board OKs $74,000 legal settlement, budget items

Other Committee · Meeting of March 23, 2026

Greenwich's Board of Estimate and Taxation approved a $74,000 legal settlement and more than $1.4 million in mid-year budget appropriations Monday, three weeks before its final vote on the fiscal 2027 budget. The board unanimously accepted Assessor Sarah Elliott's report on 912 Board of Assessment Appeals hearings, which yielded roughly $4.3 million in assessment reductions. Controller Joan Lynch reported general fund invested cash at $227 million and a retirement portfolio of $748.7 million, and said speed-camera citations "dropped by over 50 percent from 571 per day in January to 277 per day in February." The town's Energy Management Advisory Committee warned that energy costs rose 15 percent to $9.2 million even as consumption stayed flat, with Greenwich High School responsible for 20 percent of town energy use.

The board also voted 12-0 to accept a DPW septic hauler audit and unanimously approved a retirement board governance change, and heard that Old Greenwich School construction starts the first week of April.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 1,012 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of March 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

GREENWICH — March 23, 2026 — The Board of Estimate and Taxation voted unanimously Monday to approve a $74,000 settlement in the case of Kosus v. Greenwich, following a brief executive session, and moved forward on more than $1.4 million in mid-year budget appropriations as it heads toward its March 31 decision day on the town's fiscal 2027 budget.

The board also heard a sobering annual report from the town's Energy Management Advisory Committee, which found that Greenwich's municipal and school energy costs rose 15 percent last year even as consumption stayed flat, and it approved a governance change to the retirement board meant to address a shrinking pool of eligible pension-plan representatives.

The Full Story

The board moved into executive session at 6:32 p.m. and returned two minutes later to vote on the Kosus settlement, which was reported to the board by a staff member identified only as Amina and had already been approved by the Law Committee. The vote was unanimous.

Assessor Sarah Elliott told the board the Board of Assessment Appeals finished its hearings and deliberations on March 20 after reviewing 912 cases: 760 residential and 152 commercial. Of the residential appeals, 412 resulted in a changed assessment, 280 were sustained and 68 were no-shows or withdrawals. Of the 152 commercial appeals, the town declined to hear 29 under a state statute that exempts most commercial properties valued over $1 million, sustained 105, and changed 12. Elliott estimated the resulting reductions at roughly $4.3 million and said she does not expect total reductions to exceed the $110 million already built into the current grand list estimate. Property owners who received a "do not hear" notice have until June 1 to appeal to Superior Court. The board voted unanimously to accept the report.

The board also approved $142,700 for the registrar of voters' office, funded entirely by the 2023 Election Excellence Grant. Registrars told the board this is the fifth and final tranche of grant spending, which has already funded 40 new tabulation computers, security and ADA upgrades to the registrars' office, and about $150,000 in accessibility work at Western Middle School and North Street School polling places, including automatic doors and additional handicap parking. The remaining funds cover transport containers for election equipment, curbside-voting infrastructure and electrical work to expand town hall's emergency generator coverage. The vote was unanimous.

Separately, the board approved $1.025 million to the Department of Public Works and $300,000 to Parking Services, both to cover snow and ice control costs, in a unanimous voice vote.

Controller Joan Lynch reported the town's general fund invested cash stood at $227 million as of Feb. 28, about $20.7 million higher than a year earlier, while the retirement portfolio was valued at $748.7 million, up from $742.7 million on Jan. 31. She also updated the board on the town's speed-camera program, which has been running a negative balance with vendor Blue Line Solutions due to a lag between citation processing and payment; the town received its first payment, $1,190, on March 16.

"The daily valid citations dropped by over 50 percent from 571 per day in January to 277 per day in February, indicating a positive shift in driver behavior." — Controller Joan Lynch

The board's Energy Management Advisory Committee, chaired by a member identified in the meeting only as Peter, reported that town and school energy costs rose to $9.2 million in fiscal 2025, up from $8 million the year before, even as consumption held roughly flat. Greenwich High School alone accounts for about 20 percent of the town's total energy consumption. The committee recommended the town establish a professional standing building committee, hire a dedicated energy manager, and require future school construction projects to retain a commissioning agent, noting that neither Hamilton Avenue School nor New Lebanon School had one.

"We're kind of, unfortunately, going back to where we were in terms of energy consumption." — EAC Chair Peter

Also Monday, the board voted 12-0 to accept a DPW private septic hauler audit, rated satisfactory by outside auditor CLA, and voted unanimously to amend Town Code Article 14 to expand eligibility for the retirement board's participant representative seats to include retirees and vested former employees, a change retirement board chair Mr. Wasik said was needed because the pension plan has been closed to new members since 2005-2010 and few active employees remain eligible to serve. The board also heard that construction on the Old Greenwich School project is scheduled to begin the first week of April after the building committee finalized a guaranteed maximum price contract with Downs Construction.

Why It Matters

The March 23 meeting sets up the board's March 31 decision day, when members will finalize the town's fiscal 2027 budget before sending it to the Representative Town Meeting for a May vote. The Energy Management Advisory Committee's findings put a $9.2 million annual cost, and a 15 percent year-over-year increase, squarely in front of the board as it weighs capital and operating tradeoffs. The retirement board's charter change addresses a structural problem: as the town's pension plan winds down, fewer active employees remain eligible to represent participants, and the amendment creates a fallback process to ensure the seats can still be filled.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Settlement of Kosus v. Greenwich for $74,000 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Accept assessor's March 2026 report Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Appropriate $142,700 to Register of Voters (RV2), funded by 2023 Election Excellence Grant Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Appropriate $1.025 million to Department of Public Works (PW4) and $300,000 to Parking Services (PS1) for snow and ice control Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Accept fiscal 2024-25 DPW private septic haulers audit report Tally: For: 12, Against: 0, Total: 12

- Vote: Amend Town Code Article 14, Section 1973, expanding retirement board participant-representative eligibility Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve minutes of the Feb. 24, 2026 meeting Tally: Approved unanimously

Source

Greenwich Community Television: Board of Estimate and Taxation meeting, March 23, 2026