Budget Passes By 137 Votes––

Voters Say ‘Yes’ To Budget On Third Try

By Dottie Evans

Finally, Newtown has a 2003–2004 budget.

A total of 5,291 people turned out for the town’s third budget referendum and they approved a $79.4 million budget proposal by the slim margin of 137 votes.

The number voting in favor was 2,714 and the number voting against was 2,577.

The final total included 76 absentee ballots, the majority of which (48 to 28) were No votes.

“It was very close. I think the town is clearly divided,” said First Selectman Herb Rosenthal.

“I’m very glad the turnout was high again. I want to thank all the people who came out and voted.”

Out of 14,597 registered voters (registrar’s official count at the start of Wednesday’s referendum) 36 percent turned out to cast their votes, which was the highest percentage for all three referenda.

The third referendum was held following a successful petition drive May 23 that gained more than 2,000 signatures. If the drive had not been successful, the fate of the budget would have been decided by a town meeting according to rules set down in the town charter.

As Mr Rosenthal noted, the town remains divided on budget issues. The margin of victory at 137 was only slightly less than the 160-vote margin of defeat in the second referendum held three weeks ago.

This might have been the reason there were no loud cries of victory when the results were announced, as education and town officials mingled with residents Wednesday night in the Middle School gymnasium. Mostly, there was a big sigh of relief.

“Now we can get on with our lives,” said Cyrenius Booth Library Director Janet Woycik, expressing a common sentiment.

Newtown Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff agreed.

“I’m relieved that it did not go down any more. Now comes the really hard part of trying to make this work for next year. That’s going to be harder than most people think. But we’ll do it.”

School supporter Gene Vetrano admitted he was “quite happy,” and Legislative Council member Will Rodgers said, “I’m pleased with the turnout. It validates the process.”

Mr Rosenthal was not only glad that town offices could now proceed with planning for next year, and that the school system could proceed with hiring for the fall, he was eager to get on with the Fairfield Hills vote.

“Now we can focus on that. It will be a squeeze to get a vote in by the end of June when people start leaving town on vacation,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The Fairfield Hills Master Plan has been passed by the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance and is now in the hands of the Legislative Council (see related story). After the council has voted on it, the people of Newtown will have their say at a townwide referendum.

 

How The Budget Numbers Add Up

The $79.4 million town and education budget that was passed Wednesday night is not the same package that was first put to the voters in April.

Beginning at $80.7 million, the combined budget was cut to $79.7 million before it was reduced again to the $79.4 million figure that finally passed.

During the process, the Board of Selectmen’s budget for the town side was cut a total of $580,000. This cut was in addition to an $837,707 reduction that had already been made by the town before the budget was presented, which was a 2.7 percent decrease over last year’s number.

After the town budget was finalized in early April, the Board of Finance cut an additional $250,000 and the Legislative Council cut $225,000. The Legislative Council then cut $104,800 additional funds following the budget defeat at the second referendum.

The superintendent’s budget was cut $1 million before it was presented to the Board of Education. The package that the board sent on to the Board of Finance was cut $400,000 and then the Legislative Council cut an additional $775,000. Finally, the Legislative Council cut $200,000 again from the education side when the second budget went down.

As a result the education budget suffered a total reduction of $1,375,000 as it passed through the town boards during the 2003–2004 budget process.

The final town budget is $30, 030,015, down from $31,359,201 in 2002–2003.

The final education budget is $49,407,147, up from $45,917,218.

The tax rate under the approved budget is 23.4 mills. Property owners may calculate their actual tax bill by multiplying the assessed value of their property by 0.0234. The tax bill for a home assessed at $250,000 would be $5,850.