At the January 2 Board of Selectmen meeting, we heard the first bits of information about the 2024-25 budget season — as First Selectman Jeff Capeci reported that he had been meeting with department heads and the first selectman’s proposed budget would be presented to the Board of Selectmen on January 16. The selectmen also will be holding special meetings to review specific departments.

While we would certainly love it if these — and the dozens of reports sure to come leading up to the annual budget referenda in late April — would serve to inform and guide taxpayers, we hope residents will take every opportunity to become informed and engage in any way possible as the town and school district’s proposed spending plans for next year develop.

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.

Even at the 2017 level, the turnout was too low for such an important decision affecting every Newtown resident, in their pocket books, in their property values, and in their quality of life. Obviously, maintaining services keeps quality of life high and thus property values up, while it also gives residents some say in how much they will pay in property taxes. Many residents saw some increase in their assessments and property taxes due to large increases in home values across the country last year.

In the coming weeks, the Boards of Selectmen and Education will both continue holding meetings during which specific aspects of budget development will occur, before the spending plans are presented and released to the Board of Finance for collective review and eventual recommendation to the Legislative Council.

Residents should know that each of those steps includes a public hearing where residents can provide opinions or input to elected leaders, whether expressing general satisfaction or dissatisfaction about each entire budget proposal, or specific aspects of them.

Officials on each board also accept and review written correspondence from residents — just know any related letters or e-mails become part of the public record.

Over the past decade, the Town finance director and school district business office have both worked to make the actual budget proposals not only accessible, but also readable and informative — even if you are not intimately familiar with the language of municipal budget development.

If attendance or participation at any budget meeting is not an option, just downloading or reviewing paper copies of these documents along with keeping tabs on budget reporting in The Bee ought to help taxpayers be better informed. Further, that step hopefully led to engagement — if not during the process, at least when it comes to casting a more informed absentee ballot or budget vote on the final Tuesday of April.

Get In The Guide

As we do around this time each year, The Newtown Bee editorial staff completes updating and compiling the content lists for our annual Guide To Newtown, which publishes in March. While March may seem eons away from the first weekend of January, thorough research and preparation ensures we are able to offer every resident an updated go-to resource that showcases many of Newtown’s local businesses that need your support and patronage more than ever. Our guide also provides you comprehensive details about the community’s communities of faith and places of worship; contact information for all our local, state, and federal officials; and backgrounds on everyone from local government departments and officials, emergency responders and service organizations to clubs, sports and recreation opportunities, schools, support groups, and our Health District. Any leaders or liaisons from these various organizations should be expecting a call or correspondence from our offices in the coming weeks, affirming or updating related information so folks in town can reach you. New groups who would like to make sure they are part of the 2024 Guide — and those moving forward — are encouraged to contact us as well.

Send an email to Managing Editor Shannon Hicks (shannon@thebee.com) or Editor Jim Taylor no later than January 20 to start that process. Additionally, anyone wishing to secure high profile advertising in the annual guide can do so until January 20. Call 203-426-3141 and speak with someone in Sales. The Bee staffers have no idea what 2024 has in store. But we certainly have high hopes for much good news — and extend to every reader and visitor to our printed pages, our website at newtownbee.com, and our social network sites a very Happy New Year!