Date: Fri 30-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

budget-vote

Full Text:

Voters Approve $62.1 Million Budget

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Newtown's voters stayed away from the polls for the most part Tuesday, but

those who did show up approved the proposed $62.1 municipal budget for

1999-2000.

Of the 1,305 who voted, 767 voted in favor of the package, while 538 voted

against it. The Yes/No question on the ballot offered no indication as to why

people voted against the spending plan.

The 10.4 percent voter turnout was up from 8.8 percent a year ago. There are

12,564 registered voters in Newtown.

The new budget increases the tax rate by one mill -- from 26.9 to 27.9 mills

-- a 4.7 percent increase.

John Kortze, the Legislative Council's finance committee chairman, said he was

pleased with the outcome.

"We've had two budgets in a row where we have had extraordinary requests and

only inflationary increases in the budget," he said. "Yes, there were some

cuts, but they were very moderate."

Mr Kortze said the low turnout may have been indicative of a comfort level

among residents. Though many school supporters spoke in opposition to the

Legislative Council's decision to cut $800,000 from the Board of Education's

$3.3 million proposed budget increase, there did not appear to be any

organized opposition to the overall budget.

Fifty-six percent of the overall budget will be used to fund local education

and 32 percent will pay for the selectmen's portion (highway, Parks &

Recreation, police, etc). The remaining 12 percent is for debt service.

The selectmen's budget includes $8.1 million for highway/public works and $1

million for Parks & Rec. The police will receive $2.4 million. Debt service

makes up $7.4 million, which also includes debt for all major Board of

Education projects.

Taxpayers will be called upon to pay for 72.6 percent of the budget. The rest

will come from state revenue (13.7 percent), local fees and other revenues

(8.3 percent) and surplus (5.4 percent).

The new budget goes into effect July 1.