Middlebury Morning

Good Morning Middlebury! The two-year fight for control of Middlebury's Democratic Town Committee ended Tuesday night, results inside. But the bigger money story this Thursday is happening at the state capitol. Legislators unveiled a bill today that could reshape how much state education money flows to towns like ours and it comes right in the middle of budget season. That's not a coincidence worth ignoring. Let’s dive in.

Every incumbent member of the Middlebury Democratic Town Committee survived Tuesday's primary, and none of it was close.

The attempted political comeback by a group of Democrats who lost control of the Middlebury Democratic Town Committee in 2024 ended Tuesday with a decisive defeat. In unofficial results, not one of the 25 current MDTC members was unseated. The gap between the two sides wasn't a matter of degree but a different ballgame entirely. The lowest vote total for any incumbent was 250. The highest vote total for any challenger was 60.

That 60 went to former Selectman J. Paul Vance. Linda Herrmann, also among the original ousted group, received 38 — the lowest of any challenger on the ballot. Francis Barton Jr., the Democratic Registrar of Voters who filed the primary petition notices, received 52.

The 15 challengers ran against the current membership, many of them among the group who were voted out in 2024 when 86 Democrats turned up to a caucus that normally draws about 20 people, flipping control of the committee in what was called a "coup d'DTC." Two years later, the attempted reversal drew low turnout and a lopsided result.

By 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, 245 Democrats had cast ballots — about 15% of the town's 1,619 registered Democrats. Polls ran until 8 p.m. Results are still unofficial, with two ballots pending a hand count.

The current MDTC, seated with the 25 endorsed members, will remain in place. Their two-year term was renewed Tuesday by voters who, when given the chance, backed them by a margin of roughly five to one.

Drivers on I-84 in Middlebury should plan for nightly single-lane restrictions starting March 9 — and they'll last until September 2027.

The infamous South Street Bridge has been closed to local traffic since March 2. Now the second phase of the same project arrives. Starting this Monday, March 9, CTDOT will begin nightly lane restrictions on I-84 east and westbound directly under the bridge.

Eastbound lanes may be reduced to one lane from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Westbound closures run 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. On top of that, brief full traffic halts of up to 10 minutes can occur between 12:01 a.m. and 5 a.m. during construction operations. These closures are scheduled to continue through September 10, 2027.

The project — bridge deck replacement and structural repairs — was awarded to Rotha Contracting Company, Inc. for $9.6 million. If you're commuting or planning late-night travel, factor in the delay window, particularly in the overnight hours.

Senate Democrats announced a proposal this morning to raise Connecticut's per-pupil education funding baseline by 35%, with direct implications for Region 15…and your property taxes.

Right in the middle of Middlebury's budget season, the state capitol produced something worth watching. Senate Democrats held a press conference this morning at the Legislative Office Building to introduce Senate Bill 7, which would raise the per-pupil "foundation grant" at the heart of Connecticut's Education Cost Sharing formula from $11,525 today to $15,500 by 2030 — a 35% increase that hasn't been touched since the formula was written.

The ECS grant is the primary way the state distributes education aid to towns and school districts. That foundation number, frozen for more than a decade, is what the formula uses to calculate how much flows to every district. This includes Region 15. Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney pointed out that adjusted for inflation, $11,525 should be about $15,500 today, meaning the state has been quietly reducing the real value of school aid for years.

The bill would phase in increases of $1,000 per year through 2030, starting in FY 2027, at a cost of roughly $58 million in new state aid in the first year, scaling to more than $618 million annually by 2030. After that, the grant would be indexed to inflation automatically.

But here's the catch Middlebury homeowners should understand before assuming their tax bills will fall. House Republicans, while supporting the concept, raised a concern: Connecticut's Minimum Budget Requirement law can obligate towns to maintain local education spending even when state aid rises. In that scenario, more money from Hartford doesn't necessarily mean less from your wallet. Republicans also introduced their own competing proposal called House Bill 5093 that would raise the foundation even higher, to $18,581 by 2031, while explicitly allowing municipalities to reduce property taxes as state aid increases.

Governor Lamont's current budget does not include a foundation grant increase, setting up a likely fight for the remainder of the session, which runs until May 6. Region 15 is scheduled to present its 2026-27 budget in the coming weeks. Whether any of this moves fast enough to affect this year's local numbers is unclear — but it's the right time to be paying attention to what Hartford does next.

Wednesday, March 11 — Board of Finance meeting, 7 p.m., Town Hall Conference Room. Budget discussion.

Wednesday, March 18 — Joint Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance meeting, 7 p.m., Town Hall Conference Room. Budget.

Thursday, March 12 — Knights of Columbus Council 3992 St. Patrick's Dinner, Shepardson Community Center, 5–7 p.m.

Tuesday, April 7 — Budget public hearing, 6:30 p.m., Larkin Room, Middlebury Public Library.

Wednesday, May 6 — Annual budget referendum.

Comments? Suggestions? We’ll take ‘em!

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