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Referendum Today: A Recap of the 2012 Budget [UPDATED]

Newtown voters hit the poll today for the fifth time.


[Note from Regional Editor Gary Jeanfaivre: This article has been updated so that it accurately reflects its authors and the process by which budget reductions were made. Newtown Patch regrets the errors and apologizes to our readers. If anyone has any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at 203-556-0777 or gary.jeanfaivre@patch.com]

Voters will be turning out today to vote on the fifth budget recommended by the Legislative Council. The total budget amount voters will consider is $106,146,838, of which $68,355,794 is the Board of Education budget.

While many residents have been calling for a bifuracted budget that would allow them to vote on the town and education budgets separately, that will not happen this year. The concept could be under review in a Charter Revision Committee.

In one of the most drawn out budget year's Newtown has experienced, the Board of Education budget was cut by $1 million dollars after the failure of the first budget referendum on April 24. The Board of Finance had already reduced the Board of Education budget on March 14 by $700,000 in contract negotiations, medical insurance, and a dramatic reduction in commodity prices, according to the Chairman of the Board of Education Debbie Leidlein.

but the Legislative Council interpreted the significant no vote to mean the voters wanted a decrease to the budget.

On May 15, the second budget referendum represented a 1.28% tax increase to taxpayers, and went down in failure by 77 votes.

The Legislative Council then unanimously approved reducing the fund balance expense by $200,000 and did not make any other adjustments. 

On June 5th, the third budget failed by 114 votes. The Legislative Council then passed a budget that took $240,000 from a fund balance and give the Board of Education $200,000 of it to be used for capital projects, and reduced the Selectmen’s budget by a net of $120,000 after they were given $40,000 from the fund balance to use.  

On June 26, the fourth referendum failed,

 in 2010, it took three tries to pass the budget. The voter turnouts for the first two rounds were 24 percent and 29 percent, respectively. It finally passed with a 31 percent turnout.

It remains to be seen if this budget will be defeated yet again, or if it will finally stand.

Patch will be bringing you updates from the poll and also provide the result as soon at it is available.

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Lois Imbriano Barber May 25, 2013 at 09:27 am
call Lois Barber 203 270-8017 to enter. The entry fee is a $10 check made payable to the NewtownRead More PBA (Police Benevolent Association)
Lois Imbriano Barber May 25, 2013 at 09:26 am
I still have spots available for you to post a photo of your child (newborn - 4 years) on my votingRead More booth. This is a charitable fundraiser and 100% of the money raised from this year's contest goes to Newtown's First Responders and the My Sandy Hook Family Fund - the only charity that is giving every penny it collects to the 26 families who lost loved ones.
MAC May 25, 2013 at 01:19 am
G, apparently you did not watch the Benghazi hearings recently on CSpan. I did, and the whistleRead More blowers made it abundantly clear that there was never any question that it was an "ATTACK" by terrorists, and had NOTHING to do with a "demonstration" over a lame video, as lied about by S. Rice, Obama and HRC! They concocted this story because the truth, that Al Qaeda is NOT "defeated" or neutralized, as O claimed, would have been inconvenient for the election. It is utterly reprehensible for a president to heartlessly leave our men behind, to send NO aid or support, if only to get the bodies out--and under other presidents and the military as it has always been--you "DON'T leave your fellow soldiers (or diplomats) behind!" O gave (or assented to) TWO orders to "Stand Down" and NOT fly in with aid from Tripoli or Sicily! And G, what is your opinion of a president who condones the TARGETING of conservatives, with thuggish, illegal tactics of INTIMIDATION by the IRS!?
G May 25, 2013 at 01:05 am
Really? Your "blog" is a collection of "cut-and-pastes" from some otherRead More right-wing source? And you expect to be taken seriously? Time to grow up and form your own opinion, MAC. Have a nice weekend.
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