Bethel Residents Head to Polls to Vote on $78.4M Budget

BETHEL, CT — Residents will hit the polls on Thursday to render judgement on the proposed 2019-20 budget, which weighs in at nearly 5 percent above the current fiscal plan.

If approved, the new budget would raise the tax rate by about 2.24 percent, resulting in an increase of $159 in taxes for the average Bethel resident.

The town proposes to spend $26.26 million on its operating budget, a 4.65 percent increase. Employee benefits ($6.19M) and the police ($4.73M) are garnering the lion's share, with another $2.09 million allocated to the highway department and $2.58 million going to utilities and related charges.

The year-to-year change for the town plan over the current budget would be $1.16 million, or 4.64 percent above the current year's spending.

On the school side, the town proposes to allocate $46.41 million to the Board of Education, and $480,000 for BoE maintenance purposes. The additional $1.3 million over the schools' current funding compensates primarily for increased enrollment and unfunded state mandates, such as an additional world language teacher.

As always, residents find themselves haunted by the ghosts of budget referendums past. This year's proposed debt service is budgeted at $5.22 million, a 32.49 percent increase over that line item last year. The hit represents the town having to reach into its pockets to pay off loans for the new police station and renovations to Rockwell and Johnson elementary schools, projects previously approved by voters and currently underway.

This year on the referendum, voters will be asked to pledge or deny their support to borrow $1 million to replace the boilers at the high school.

Bethel resident may vote on the proposed budgets on Thursday, Apr. 11, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Senior Center van is available for rides to the polls. Call the Senior Center at 203-792-3048 or 203-794-8593 to schedule a ride.