Budget Goes To The Voters For Second Time

The proposed 2012-13 Town of Stonington budget goes to the voters for the second time today.

Residents eligible to vote will decide either to pass the $56.7 million budget or send it back to the Board of Finance. If the $56,733,696 budget passes the mill rate will raise to 15.89. A property owner with a house appraised at $250,000 will pay an additional $65 in property taxes.

On May 8, voters . Of the 12,167 registered voters, 2,282 or 19 percent voted in May. And of those, 1,125 voted in favor of the budget and 1,157 voted to send it back to finance for further cuts, a difference of 32 votes.

Following the rejection by the voters, the , $25,000 from a $75,000 line item to repair Hewitt Road, $25,000 for a loader for the and $50,000 in salary and benefits from the now vacant . The board took $100,000 from the fund balance for mill rate reduction. That left the proposed budget at $56.7 million a 0.26 mills increase from the 2011-12 budget.

In more than 50 percent of respondents said they could handle an increase of less than 1 mill while about 45 percent said they could not afford any increase in taxes.

While the Board of Finance cut $300,000 from the schools it is up to the Board of Education to decide where that money will come from. At their May 25, Board of Education meeting a list of $403,379 in cuts and savings. The cuts, however, are simply proposals, as the Board of Education will not approve their budget until a budget referendum passes.

A complete copy of the recommended budget is available on the Town of Stonington website.

Where And When To Vote:

Polls are open in three voting districts from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Districts One and Three vote at the at 100 Main St., in Stonington Borough.

District Two votes at the at 33 Liberty St. in Pawcatuck

Districts Four and Five vote at the B.F. Hoxie Engine Company at the at 34 Broadway Avenue in Mystic.

Results:

Polls close at 8 p.m. and results, once announced at Town Hall, will be posted on Stonington-Mystic Patch, on our Facebook page, and tweeted.