https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Newtown-residents-to-vote-on-proposed-117-12858005.php
Newtown residents to vote on proposed $117 million budget
Published 4:38 pm, Monday, April 23, 2018
NEWTOWN — Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide the fate of a $117 million budget for next year that carries a 1 percent tax rate increase.
The annual budget vote, which includes two separate spending propositions, is planned from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Priorities in the new budget include more counselors and social workers for the schools, and more money to maintain the town’s roads.
The spending plan represents one of the first leadership tests for newly hired schools Superintendent Lorrie Rodrigue, and for Democratic First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, who was elected in November.
Rodrigue replaces Joe Erardi, Connecticut’s 2017 Superintendent of the Year, who guided the school community through the difficult years of recovery after the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. Rosenthal replaces Republican Pat Llodra, whose leadership on key rebuilding projects helped pull the town together.
Erardi and Llodra both retired last year.
The 2017-18 budget represents Rodrigue’s intent to bolster the school district’s social and emotional learning curriculum, and Rosenthal’s intent to catch up on infrastructure improvements after years of deferred maintenance following the recent Great Recession.
The budget carries $2.7 million in additional spending over the current budget, an increase of 2.4 percent.
Part of the new spending will pay for a purchasing agent to be shared by the town and the school district. The hope is that the new position will save the town money by eliminating duplicative expenses.
The budget carries a tax rate of 34.24 per $1,000 of assessed property value. A resident with a home assessed at the town average of $257,000 would pay $8,800 next year.
On the ballot, residents will vote separately on the town’s $41 million portion of the budget and the school district’s $76 million portion.
Two other propositions — a $1.7 million bond to replace the Middle Gate Elementary School roof, and a $1.5 million bond to repave roads — will also be on the ballot.
rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
