Bethel Voters Reject Municipal Budget, OK School and Capital Plan

BETHEL, CT — Voters rejected the nearly $32 million municipal budget, but approved the 2019-20 $46.4 million school and $1 million capital plans, in a referendum Thursday night, the News-Times is reporting.

The finance board is scheduled to revise the municipal budget at a meeting on Tuesday. The amount of wiggle room they have in which to make cuts is constrained by a burgeoning debt service, as the town prepares to pay for the new police station and renovations to Rockwell and Johnson elementary schools.

The results of referendum Thursday were similar to the budget drama that unfolded last year, when residents rejected both the municipal and capital plans in the first two of three referendums.

Once the finance board has crafted a new municipal finance plan, another town meeting and referendum will be held to vote on it.