Brookfield Finance Board Revises Budget Proposal

BROOKFIELD, CT -- The Board of Finance revised the budget downwards at a meeting Tuesday night, following voter rejection of the previous proposal last Tuesday. The new proposal includes $42.9 million for the schools and $24.1 million for the town, representing a tax increase of 4.65 percent. The previous, rejected, plan would have increased the tax rate by 5.6 percent, according to the News-Times.

The town budget was reduced by a quarter of a percent by cutting some of the elderly tax relief funding, the personnel contingency and other items. The school budget was also cut by a quarter of a percent.

Controversy has swirled around the budget re-do as there has been an outcry on social media from residents who say they did not vote due to the storm that struck town in the evening, preventing them from voting late in the day. Supporters of the revised budget point out that the original budget was soundly rejected, and voter turnout during the first 11 hours of the referendum was higher this year than in previous years.

For more on the story, see the News-Times.