Budget Referendum Vote Falls Short of 15 Percent Needed for Consideration

With only 465 voters turning out for the on May 10, the 5.33 percent of voters fell short of the 15 percent needed for the Town Council to be required to consider the vote.

“Fifteen percent is the threshold to be considered binding on the Town Council, but it continues to be advisory,” said Town Manager Richard Branigan. “The numbers pretty much reflect the uncertainly of the economy and mirrored the concerns of Town Council. This is a conservative group that made some additional cuts that were uncomfortable for some and may be some work to be done, but we have a budget with a one mill increase and even though the prediction is that even though most taxpayers will see their property taxes go down on residential side, but people are uncertain of what’s going to happen next and it’s reflected in their voting pattern.”

Voters were asked “Shall the Town Council Recommended Budget of $47,321,396, which will require a mill rate of 27.77 mills, be adopted?” Of the 465 voters, 82 accepted the budget, 375 rejected it for being too high and eight rejected it for being too low.

Now the Town Council will take a final look at the budget and then set the mill rate at the Town Council on Tuesday, May 17.

The numbers are down from 2010’s budget referendum voting, which brought out 7.43 percent of the town's voters. While many at the polls stressed the importance of making their voices heard (see video), Branigan was not surprised by the low turnout.

“If they’ve paid attention to information we’ve been putting out about the impact of the proposed budget, most people realize their taxes will go down, which is unfortunately, the result of property values going down,” said Branigan. “I think people are less likely to turn out when that’s the reality.”

Brian Wentworth, North Branford’s registrar of voters, was hoping for a higher turnout. After years of steadily increasing numbers, his goal for the day was 10 percent.

“Every year that we’ve had this referendum vote, the percentage has gone up, but we haven’t reached the 15 percent threshold yet,” said Wentworth. “Hopefully in the next few years, we will and that will be something that will have to be considered. Even though the Town Council does not have to take the recommendation of this referendum, at least they will know that people are concerned enough to come out and vote in numbers to show they should revisit the budget issue.”