Concerns expressed by Board of Finance members days before the end of the fiscal year prompted school district officials to delay pre-paying three remaining annual lease installments on a security camera system by using $374,796 from an unusually large 2019-20 budget surplus.
Business owners, managers, event organizers, et al are encouraged to contact Associate Editor Shannon Hicks to be added to this list. Updates to current information are also invited.
A curious push/pull situation is developing statewide as Governor Ned Lamont paused Phase 3 re-openings while concurrently releasing a 50-page guide to help school districts navigate a return to classroom instruction in the coming weeks.
The Board of Education scheduled two extra meetings, for July 21 and August 4, in the course of its meeting on July 7, and it quickly became clear why: There is a lot of work to do.
The voters spoke, loud and clear that they support our schools and municipal services. The majority vote was a mandate to keep delivering well rated education services and keep it" Nicer in Newtown."
Thank you LeReine, for speaking out about this. The list of public servants who are unfairly targeted for abuse just for doing their jobs has been growing. It is a testament to the power of propaganda that otherwise good and well-meaning people can get so emotional as to act out in this way.
While I respect the outcome of the referendum, I’m disappointed by the way this budget was presented and passed. A 6.72% tax increase and a mill rate jump to 28.78 may have been framed as “just a few dollars a day,” but for many families in town — especially those already stretched thin — those “few dollars” add up quickly.
It’s frustrating to see large increases minimized in this way, and I worry that next year we’ll hear, “It’s only a little more than last year,” as if that justifies an ongoing trend of rising taxes. This year’s combined municipal and education budgets total over $141 million — that’s a significant sum.
All of the referendums deserve to be pasted. We have a history of deferring needed maintenance and then paying more years later. These are required to keep our town owned building and roads in working condition.
