Enfield Things

Enfield voters sent a clear message in November: they did not want automatic budget referendums. Now, with Democrats newly in control of the Town Council, the town is preparing to try charter reform again. The council will consider creating a new Charter Revision Commission at its meeting Monday. Collateral Damage: Bipartisan Reforms Lost in the Defeat While the budget referendum dominated the debate, several other reforms were swept away when voters rejected the entire package. Voters couldn’t “slice and dice” the proposal — there was only one up-or-down question on the ballot. What Happened in November The defeat centered largely on one controversial provision : an automatic referendum requirement whenever the town budget increased by more than 5% over the previous year’s general fund expenditures. This “trigger” would have taken budget approval out of the Council’s hands and sent it directly to voters whenever a spending proposal crossed that threshold. The charter revision question...

Charts show the draft list of streets being considered by Enfield for improvement. [See detailed street list below story.] The plan is not final. Town Council approval and voter authorization is needed. Enfield may ask voters to approve about $40 million to rebuild roughly 17 miles of town roads. The proposal continues the town’s long-running effort to modernize its street network as aging pavement and rising costs put pressure on the system. Since 2000, voters have approved about $163 million in road bonding. That work has covered more than 150 miles, or about 83% of Enfield’s roads. Major road programs have typically gone before voters every five years. The Town Council has not approved anything. At a recent council meeting, town officials outlined the status of road improvements and the next phase. The council will have to decide how much to spend on roads, and then ask voters to approve it in November 2026. The town's presentation can be viewed here . [The PDF begins with the t...

The town assessor cited four examples to the Town Council monday of price gains on Enfield homes since the last revaluation. This home showed the most dramatic increase. The jump may be due to strong demand for lower-priced homes, upgrades made between sales, or a combination of both. The Town Council plans to give regular public updates on the upcoming property revaluation. The first of those updates came last night with a look at how sharply residential property values have increased since the previous revaluation. Enfield is conducting a property revaluation as required by state law. The process will run through 2026, and residents will receive their new assessments in November of that year. Those assessments will apply to the FY28 budget, which takes effect in July 2027. Residential values in Enfield have risen significantly since the 2021 revaluation (See examples below). The concern for town officials is a potential tax shift: if commercial property values have not increased at t...