BERLIN, CT — Berlin voters on Tuesday rejected revised town and school budget proposals for the 2026-27 fiscal year, marking the second time this spring that both spending plans failed at referendum.
According to unofficial results released by the town Wednesday morning, voters rejected the general government budget 638-335 and defeated the Board of Education budget 795-187.
Turnout was 6.12%, with 915 ballots cast out of 16,134 registered voters, town officials said.
The revised proposal would have increased combined expenditures by 3.48%, including a 3.47% increase in general government spending and a 3.50% increase for the school budget.
Town officials had proposed a mill rate of 31.32, an increase of 0.66 mills, or 2.17%, over the current fiscal year.
Under the proposal, the owner of a home valued at $345,000 would have seen an estimated annual tax increase of about $152.
The updated package included several changes made after voters rejected the original budget during an April 28 referendum.
Adjustments included adding $81,000 to the Board of Education budget, $25,000 for reroofing the Timberlin maintenance shop, and $71,600 to partially fund an additional police officer position for half the fiscal year.
Officials said the police position would be offset by additional grant revenue.
Advisory referendum responses showed voters were divided on the general government budget.
Among those who voted “no,” 332 said the budget was too high, while 326 said it was too low.
Responses on the school budget showed stronger support for additional education spending.
Among voters who rejected the Board of Education proposal, 531 said the budget was too low compared with 282 who said it was too high.
Town officials previously said Berlin expects to receive additional state aid after the revised referendum package was finalized, including $581,191 in supplemental education funding, $258,989 through the Revenue Sharing Grant program, and $75,947 in supplemental Pequot-Mohegan funding.
During the first referendum on April 28, voters rejected the general government budget by a vote of 1,022-459 and defeated the Board of Education budget 1,237-249.
Last referendum this year
While voters resoundingly said "no" to the town/school budgets, the final decision, now, is up to town officials
That's because, under the Berlin Town Charter, the budget adoption process is limited to two public referendums per fiscal year.
If voters reject the budget on both attempts, the authority to finalize the spending plan and set the mill rate bypasses the voters and reverts entirely to the Berlin Town Council.
The Berlin Board of Finance was expected to have a special meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Berlin Town Hall, 40 Kensington Road, to address the budget situation and new tax rate.
The Berlin Town Council, then, will have the final say at a yet-to-be-scheduled meeting.
Such was the case last year, when Berlin voters twice shot down town/school budgets, only to see the finance board tweak the spending plans and then have the council vote to adopt them anyway.
For the latest Town of Berlin budget information, click on this link.
From May 22: 'Berlin Voters To Decide Revised Town, School Budgets Today: UPDATE'
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Berlin, CT Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.