Budget Rejected Again

By Dottie Evans

Despite the feeling of guarded optimism among town officials and school supporters who gathered at the polls by 8 pm Tuesday night to hear the results of the town’s second budget referendum, the numbers were not in their favor.

By the time the third machine was tallied, it was clear the No-votes were outnumbering the Yes-votes and that for a second time in 14 days Newtown taxpayers were going to reject the 2003–2004 combined town and education budget proposal.

The only bright spot for most of those who stayed to the bitter end was that the current bottom line of $79.7 million seemed slightly more palatable to voters than the previous version of the budget, which was $80.7 million.

On April 23, the night after the first budget went down, the Legislative Council had reduced the bottom line by $1 million in response to a resounding 738-vote margin of defeat.

Tuesday’s results were 2,593 to 2,433 against passage, and this time the margin of defeat at 160 votes was much slimmer.

A total of 5,026 votes were cast, 4,913 of which were registered voters. The balance consisted of 113 Grand List voters. There were a total of 41 absentee ballots, 19 for and 22 against.

According to Town Clerk Cindy Simon, the percentage of voter turnout was 34.6. In the previous election, there was a 29 percent turnout.

Mixed Message, Mixed Reactions

Budget proponents who were willing to comment about the results seemed surprised, resigned, and stoically determined to stay with the process until a number was reached that taxpayers would finally accept.

This time there seemed to be little talk about confusion over revaluation, but more of a general feeling that taxpayers are expressing their true, deep-seated frustration at rising costs given the current state of the economy.

If there was a ray of hope, it was the lessening margin of defeat.

Superintendent of Newtown Schools Evan Pitkoff chose to interpret the 160-vote difference as a sign that voters were nearly ready to accept the package, and he expressed those feelings soon after the results were in.

“I’m hoping the Legislative Council will not cut anymore and still allow it to go to a town meeting as it is, given how close the vote was this time,” Dr Pitkoff said.

Another town official who declined to speak for the record but who was standing nearby Dr Pitkoff, commented that it might not go through that easily.

“There’s going to have to be some real pain experienced before this passes,” he predicted.

Resident Bill Sheluck was disappointed at the results, especially since he had helped organize a mailing to the school community asking more voters to turn out.

“Of course, we wanted them to vote Yes. But mainly, we wanted them to vote,” Mr Sheluck said.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal maintained a stoic attitude.

“The voters are in charge here. They are the taxpayers and they pay the bills. Our job is to do the best with whatever money they give us. The fact that the council cut $1 million must have changed a few votes,” he added.

Gene Vetrano of Support Our Schools commented Wednesday that he hoped the Legislative Council “doesn’t read this as a denial of funds needed by our schools.”

“I think a lot of things are coming into play here. The state keeps cutting back in aid. Fairfield Hills has not yet come to closure. Reval is still there,” Mr Vetrano said.

“A lot of people moved to Newtown because of the excellent schools. If that’s what they want, they’ve got to pay for it and vote for it,” he added.

“This time, there were 677 more Yes votes. But there were also 99 more no votes. This may be the highest turnout I’ve seen in my nine years in this town,” he added.

Elaine McClure, Board of Education Chairman, found some comfort in the fact that the margin of defeat went from 18 percent down to 3 percent.

“Obviously, the voters are still saying the numbers are too high. We would love to have seen it pass. Just the fact that another five percent came out to vote is heartening.” Asked how the board would deal with possible further cuts, Ms McClure replied, “I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be to have kids come to us crying because their sport, or their music program, or some other special activity has been cut.

“I’m an advocate for the kids, but with 171 new students, the new school, and contractual salary expenses, we’ll have no choice but to make those hard decisions.”

A longtime resident who declined to give his name but who remembered riding his bike down Queen Street “when it was a dirt road,” said he voted against the budget for a second time “for a lot of reasons.

“Sadly, I see nothing but defeat out there. The economy is worse and there’s no money. Taxes keep going up.”

He was encouraged by open space initiative recently broached by the Legislative Council to control growth.

“It’s great and it’s environmentally correct because we’re saturated here. But we need tax reform and it has to come from the state legislature. It’s like we’re climbing a ladder and we’re slipping backwards. Asking the owner of a single-family home to pay for all these things, it’s unrealistic.”

What Happens Next?

Now that the second budget proposal has failed, the Legislative Council meets Thursday night (after this issue of The Bee goes to press) to set a new figure. Or the council may decide not to change the current proposed 2003–2004 budget total of $79.7 million.

When the number is set, the Board of Selectmen meet to set a date for a Town Meeting vote and, according to Town Clerk Cindy Simon, the unofficial date for that meeting will be Tuesday, May 20.

Anyone wishing to petition for another referendum with machine vote must obtain a form from the town clerk’s office and submit signatures within seven days after the new budget number is submitted, which would presumably happen on Friday, May 9.

That means the signatures would have to be submitted by Friday, May 16, at 4:30 pm. The petition must be signed by five percent of all registered voters, which would be 726 signatures.

“And they would need at least 100 additional signatures, since some of those may not be legal. We have to research each voter,” Ms Simon added, and for a number of reasons, the names sometimes do not qualify.

If a sufficient number of signatures were to be validated, then the town meeting would only be for the purpose of setting a date for the referendum that would have to occur within ten days.

If there is no petition and the vote goes to a town meeting as expected, it would take place at Newtown High School at 7:30 pm and voters would have to show identification at the door and be checked off the Grand List in the same manner as for a referendum.

Someone would make a motion on the floor for a vote followed by discussion, and then the vote would take place. A show of hands is possible or, more likely, there will be a paper ballot.

“Ninety percent of the time, that’s what happens,” Ms Simon said.