Newtown Residents Urged to Vote in Town Referendum Today

Voting polls are open until 8 p.m. tonight at the Newtown Middle School gymnasium for a town referendum vote on a $111.7 million budget that decreases the tax rate by 0.7 percent.

The school portion of the budget, $71,587,946, represents a 0.34 percent increase over the current school appropriations.

The town portion of the budget, $40,142,567, represents a 1 percent increase over the current town appropriations.

If approved as presented to voters at referendum, the new spending plan would represent a net reduction in taxation of 0.71 percent, with a new tax rate of 33.07 mills, down from the current rate of 33.31. A mill represents one dollar for every $1,000 in taxable property.

The main questions on the voting ballot are as follows:

Shall the sum of $40,142,567 be appropriated as the budget for the
Board of Selectmen for the fiscal year?

Shall the sum of $71,587,946 be appropriated for the budget for the
Board of Education for the fiscal year?

The referendum also includes two auxiliary questions:

Do you deem the proposed sum of $40,142,567 to be appropriated for
the Board of Selectmen as “too low”?

Do you deem the proposed sum of $71,587,946 to be appropriated for
the Board of Education as “too low”?

Referendum voting in Newtown has been notoriously low – about 12 percent – during past years, and government officials are urging residents to take a few moments to vote at the Middle School today.

Image via Shutterstock

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