Stonington Voters Approve Near-$58M Budget at Polls Tuesday

Reported and written by Ellyn Santiago.

The numbers don’t lie.  

Of Stonington’s 12,661 eligible voters, 18 percent turned out Tuesday to overwhelmingly support the town, school and capital budgets totaling $57,937,663.  

“It’s a great endorsement by the voters,” said Stonington First Selectman Edward Haberek, who read the tally to a packed corridor in the basement of Town Hall.  

“A great vote on a very good budget. I’m very pleased.”  

A total of 2,256 votes were cast with 1,582 in favor and 674 against, a more than 2 to 1 margin supporting the spending plan.   The total budget, $57,937,663, represents a .35-mill increase over last year's budget and sets a tax rate of 19.88 mills     

On April 8, the Board of Finance restored $100,000 to the Board of Education proposed budget and funding for the Director of Planning position following a budget public hearing.  

Stonington Schools superintendent Dr. Van Riley said he was “thrilled.”  

“It’s my first budget here, my first in Connecticut,” he said. “We put a lot of effort into it. Working with the finance (board) we were able to really prioritize and re-prioritize to get it right.”  

Riley said the effort Tuesday by educators, parents, athletic and drama boosters and others to get folks to vote “made a difference.”  

Riley himself took to email and robo calls to urge voters to go to the polls.  

“We don’t say how to vote, just to please vote,” he said.    

The tally  
District 1 & 3 (Stonington Borough)Yes 432  No 211    19% turnout
District 2  (Pawcatuck)                   Yes 757   No 272    19% turnout
District 4 & 5   (Mystic)                  Yes 373   No 185    15% turnout