Education spending$48.6MAudited actual, FY 2022-23. A town in a regional district reports only the grades it runs. CT OPM Municipal Fiscal Indicators (ej6f-y2wf).
Education spending per pupil$22,078RANK 73 / 169▼ 2% below the statewide median of $22,590Audited actual ÷ average daily membership, FY 2022-23. CT OPM Municipal Fiscal Indicators (ej6f-y2wf). OPM education expenditures divided by average daily membership. This is not the state Department of Education's Net Current Expenditures Per Pupil, which is calculated on a narrower basis and will differ.
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Bottom line
Over the past decade, Colchester's total Board of Education budget has grown about 19% (FY16 $39.8M → FY26 $47.3M proposed) — a slow pace versus regional norms. But on a per-pupil basis, spending has grown about 52% (FY16 $14,716 → FY25 $22,367) because K-12 enrollment has dropped 24% (2,705 → 2,059 students).
Among Colchester's 7 geographic neighbors and 8 size-comparable DRG D peers, Colchester sits squarely in the middle on per-pupil spending growth — slower than Hebron, Marlborough, and East Hampton; faster than Salem, Tolland, and Suffield. In absolute per-pupil dollars, Colchester ($22,367 in FY25) is below the regional average and well below the highest spender (Lebanon, $26,966).
Mill rates aren't directly comparable across years because most towns revalued grand lists in 2022–2024 (causing big mid-decade resets), but Colchester's mill rate trajectory has been similar to neighbors and gentler than several DRG D peers.
The total-spending side of the story: Colchester's total education spending grew 15.7% over 9 years, vs. 19.2% for neighbors and 28.4% for DRG D peers. Against roughly 30% CPI-U inflation over the same FY15-16 → FY24-25 window, that is about a 14% real decline for Colchester, versus about 2% for the DRG D peer average. Per-pupil spending held closer to peers because Colchester had among the steepest enrollment declines in the comparison set, so a similar dollar total is spread over fewer students.
Colchester BOE budget growth
+18.9%
FY15-16 → FY25-26 (10 yrs total)
Per-pupil spending growth
+52.0%
FY15-16 → FY24-25 (9 yrs · 4.8% CAGR)
Enrollment decline
−23.9%
2,705 → 2,059 students (ADM)
Per-pupil rank
10 of 16
Just above median (FY24-25)
What does Colchester spend per student, against its peers?
Per-pupil spending (NCEP), FY15-16 → FY24-25
Per-pupil spending across the region went from roughly $13–18K in FY16 to $19–27K in FY25, with Colchester ending around $22,367.
ColchesterGeographic neighborsDRG D peers
How much has per-pupil spending grown over ten years?
Per-student spending grew 35–66% across all 16 towns over 9 years; Colchester is +52%.
Source: CT State Department of Education — Net Current Expenditures per Pupil (NCEP) reports. Full sources in the page footer.
And on the whole education budget rather than per student?
Total education spending (NCE) growth — the budget side
Colchester’s total education spending grew 15.7% over 9 years — slower than six of the eight DRG D peers and faster than Tolland (+9.3%) and Suffield (+14.6%), and below the neighbor average (+19.2%) and DRG D peer average (+28.4%).
How do the trajectories compare year by year?
Total spending trajectory: Colchester vs. peer averages
Colchester’s spending line is nearly flat from FY16 to FY22 and rises through FY25, while the peer averages climb at a steeper, steadier slope.
How much does the figure move from one year to the next?
Year-over-year per-pupil % change
FY22-23 was flat for Colchester (+0.1%) while the peer averages continued to climb.
Source: CT State Department of Education — Net Current Expenditures per Pupil (NCEP) reports. Full sources in the page footer.
How does the tax rate compare with those peers?
Mill rate trends, FY15-16 → FY25-26
Colchester revalued for FY23-24, dropping from about 33 to 27.22 mills, and has since climbed back to 29.92 mills for FY25-26.
What has the Board of Education’s own budget done?
Colchester BOE budget history
Cumulative 10-year growth in the adopted BOE budget is 18.9%, with two flat-to-negative years, three years under 2%, and a +5.2% step in FY23-24.
Fiscal Year
Adopted BOE Budget
$ Change
YoY %
Enrollment (ADM)
Mill Rate
How much of the whole municipal budget is education?
Education share of municipal budget, FY15 → FY24
Colchester directs about 76.9% of its municipal budget to schools in FY23-24, against 72.3% for the neighbor average and 70.9% for the DRG D peer average.
ColchesterGeographic neighborsDRG D peers
Town
Group
FY14-15 ratio
FY23-24 ratio
10-yr change
FY23-24 total
FY23-24 education
How does per-pupil spending compare with what the town earns?
Per-pupil spending relative to town income, FY24-25
The ratio runs from about 15% (Tolland, Ellington) to about 25% (Lebanon), with Colchester at 18.8%, 8th of 16 — the middle of the comparison set.
Town
Group
NCEP FY24-25
Median household income
Spending ÷ income
Comparison data table
Click any column header to sort. Switch metrics with the buttons. Colchester is highlighted.
10-year growth summary table
Total per-pupil spending change FY15-16 → FY24-25, plus enrollment change. Click headers to sort.
Town
Group
NCEP FY15-16
NCEP FY24-25
10-yr % growth
CAGR
Enrollment Δ
The data behind these charts
Colchester’s own series behind the charts on this page, as text.
Each table names the dataset it came from and the year of every row. The
peer towns and group medians the charts also plot are not repeated here;
they are in the same source files, linked in the footer.
Who Colchester is compared with
Surrounding towns 8 towns
Hebron · Marlborough · Lebanon · Salem · Bozrah · East Hampton · East Haddam · Montville
The towns that share a border or an immediate labor market. Right for regional context; they are not matched on size or wealth.
District Reference Group D 23 towns
Berlin · Bethel · Branford · Clinton · Cromwell · East Granby · East Hampton · East Lyme · Ledyard · Milford · New Milford · Newington · North Haven · Old Saybrook · Rocky Hill · Shelton · Southington · Stonington · Wallingford · Waterford · Watertown · Wethersfield · Windsor
The CT State Department of Education grouping of school districts on family income, parent education, family structure and enrollment. Last assigned in 2006, and built for education questions rather than town-side spending.
Town-side spending, debt, reserves, and tax comparisons. Chosen by a published formula over state data rather than by hand: the nearest towns by standardized distance on the stated variables.
Education spending comparisons. Chosen by a published formula over state data rather than by hand: the nearest towns by standardized distance on the stated variables.
Colchester is left out of each list above, because a town is never part
of the benchmark it is measured against. Group medians elsewhere on the site
exclude it the same way.
Sources: surrounding towns and District Reference Group are
the published groupings; the peer sets are built by a stated formula over CT
OPM data (Data/build_peer_sets.py), not selected by hand.
Education spending and enrollment by fiscal year
Education spending and enrollment by fiscal year for Colchester, Connecticut
Fiscal year
Enrollment (average daily membership)
Education expenditures
Per pupil
Share of total spending
FY 2013-14
2,847
$43,879,506
$15,411
77.2%
FY 2014-15
2,767
$43,909,369
$15,869
77.6%
FY 2015-16
2,705
$44,296,560
$16,374
78.2%
FY 2016-17
2,624
$46,630,541
$17,774
78.3%
FY 2017-18
2,533
$47,020,602
$18,563
78.9%
FY 2018-19
2,404
$43,249,066
$17,991
76.8%
FY 2019-20
2,373
$46,584,807
$19,627
77.6%
FY 2020-21
2,212
$46,211,815
$20,895
77.0%
FY 2021-22
2,239
$47,681,959
$21,299
76.1%
FY 2022-23
2,202
$48,605,251
$22,078
76.9%
Per pupil here is OPM education expenditures divided by average daily membership. It is not the CT State Department of Education's Net Current Expenditures Per Pupil, which uses a narrower definition of spending and will differ. A town in a regional district reports only the grades it runs. Source: CT OPM, Municipal Fiscal Indicators (ej6f-y2wf) - audited actuals as filed by each town.
Where Colchester sits among all 169 Connecticut towns, FY 2022-23
Where Colchester sits among all 169 Connecticut towns, FY 2022-23 for Colchester, Connecticut
Measure
Colchester
Rank, lowest to highest
Statewide median
Total expenditures per resident
$4,076
72 of 169
$4,217
Education expenditures per pupil
$22,078
73 of 169
$22,590
Equalized mill rate
19.11 mills
115 of 169
17.18 mills
Equalized net grand list per resident
$142,320
35 of 169
$189,668
Total fund balance as a share of total expenditures
18.1%
69 of 169
19.9%
Bonded long-term debt per resident
$1,265
61 of 169
$1,741
Intergovernmental revenue as a share of total revenues
30.6%
136 of 169
20.5%
A rank is a position, not a grade. Which end of the list is preferable depends on the measure and on what a reader is trying to find out. Per-pupil spending here is OPM education expenditures divided by average daily membership, which is not the state Department of Education's Net Current Expenditures Per Pupil. Source: CT OPM, Municipal Fiscal Indicators (ej6f-y2wf) - audited actuals as filed by each town. Ranks computed for FY 2022-23 across all 169 towns.