Hackers Invade Tolland Budget Hearing, Officials Reschedule

TOLLAND, CT — Hackers interrupted the virtual version of Tolland's public hearing on the 2022-23 proposed budget Thursday, prompting town officials to shut down the proceedings and set a new date.

"We are taking this incident very seriously and have notified the Connecticut State Police for an immediate investigation," officials said in an email alert sent at 8:09 p.m. Thursday.

Future meetings will now require in-person attendance.

"We are very sorry for anyone who witnessed the disgusting hack. As a result, and for everyone's safety, we are going to move to in-person meetings only, likely through the remainder of the budget cycle," officials said. "We will make every attempt to prevent this from happening again and returning to the hybrid format ASAP."

The public hearing has been tentatively rescheduled for April 4. Town officials said details will be released "in the coming days."

Due to the expected volume of people attending, larger venues are being considered.

The meeting for the Tolland Town Council to finalize its budget is tentatively rescheduled for April 10.

"It is possible in the immediate future that our regular town council meetings will be in-person only until such time that we are completely confident that we can protect everyone's safety," officials said. "We are sorry for any inconvenience and we will continue to communicate as much as possible through this."

Here's a look at the proposed budget:

• Town Government: $13,682,051
• Capital Improvement Reserve Fund: $319,451
• Board of Education: $42,989,855
• Debt Service: $4,750,000
• Total Proposed Budget: $61,741,357
• Proposed Tax Rate: 37.43 mills, which reflects an increase of 2.32 percent, or .85 mills