For the first time since a budget failure in 2013, a budget failed to pass muster with the voters, as the education budget failed, 1,701 No votes to 1,194 Yes votes.

The town budget narrowly passed, 1,465 Yes votes to 1,424 No votes on April 23, so the town’s budget of $48,834,506, a $1,308,366 or 2.75% spending increase, is official.

The proposed Board of Education stood at $88,817,373, a $3,747,722 or 4.4% increase over last year. With the rejection from voters, the school budget will go back to the Legislative Council and Board of Finance to decide on a new bottom line, as well as the Board of Education for line item cuts.

Legislative Council Chairman Keith Alexander said council will “convene to reconsider the proposed Board of Education budget for further adjustment.”

“The Council will have to use the feedback of this referendum to assess the tax payers’ priorities,” said Alexander.

On the secondary question to the education budget — If the proposed sum for the Board of Education is not approved, should the revised budget be higher? — the responses were 727 Yes and 2,071 No.

Superintendent of Schools Chris Melillo said that the proposed budget was “focused on maintaining staff and programs” as well as current levels of curriculum and instruction. With the failure of the school budget, Melillo said the “priority remains the same, to provide the best education and support students.”

“We will try and maintain essential staff and programs, and shield them from cuts as much as we can,” said Melillo. “We will advocate for our students and make sure their educational experience is not compromised.”

First Selectman Jeff Capeci said that the schools going down “by a large margin” suggests that the council and BOE have work that still needs to be done. He said the follow-up question gave the council “clear direction.”

Capeci also noted that while the town passed, it was by a small margin.

“We are conscious that taxpayers are feeling the pinch economically in general and from taxes,” said Capeci. “That’s the message I received.”

The Newtown Bee reached out to BOE Chair Alison Plante but she did not respond before press time.

A Letter to the Editor in this week’s Newtown Bee from four Republican Legislative Councilmen — Jennifer Nicoletti, Derek Pisani, John Zachos, and Ben Ruben — stated in part, “Newtown has not had a budget fail referendum in over a decade and we cannot take this message lightly. Affordability is not a partisan matter, and there were voters of all party affiliations who acted to send this budget back to the Council.”

If both budgets had passed, voters were facing an overall budget of $137,651,879, a $5,056,088 or 3.7% spending increase. The mill rate would have increased from 26.24 to 27.24, a 1 mill or 3.82% tax increase.

The Registrar of Voters reports 15.1% of Newtown’s registered voters participated in yesterday’s referendum, with 2,952 people showing up at Newtown Middle School to vote and another 47 turning in absentee ballots.

In 2023, Newtown saw increased participation at its April budget vote with a turnout of approximately 8.8 percent, the first year of increased participation after years of waning participation, especially following the COVID pandemic. In 2022, participation was only 7.7 percent; in 2021, the turnout was 8.98 percent; in 2020, there was no budget referendum due to the pandemic; in 2019, turnout was 17 percent; in 2018, turnout was 15.7 percent; and in 2017, turnout was 19.9 percent.

This year’s participation close to doubled the participation in 2023, but the results seem indicative of discontent with the proposed budget after years of relative apathy.

The Board of Finance was expected to at least discuss the referendum results at its April 25 meeting, and the Legislative Council next meets on May 1. The Board of Education next meets on May 7.

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Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.