To The Editor:

It’s that time of year again. This coming Tuesday, April 28th, Newtown residents need to play their part in town governance and vote on the proposed budget for 2026-2027.

Everyone, please, get thee to thy polling place. I know it’s hard to find the time on a work day, but the town keeps the polls open from 6 am to 8 pm. Swing by on your way to work, during lunch hour, on your way home. Our Town cannot function, it cannot support us with the town services we need, without our participation.

I urge you to vote yes on the proposed town and school budgets. The proposed town budget is $51,453,296 and the proposed school budget is $95,961,919, for a total of $147,415,217. This will be a 4.34% increase from the last budget. Our tax rate will increase by 2.79%.

The proposed tax increase basically reflects the overall rate of inflation. The major drivers of the budget increases are pre-existing requirements: the higher cost of existing contractual obligations such as salaries and health insurance for town and school employees. In addition, the district’s special education program has grown and requires new staff to meet needs. A few new positions were added to the Town budget with the intent to save costs long-term with greater efficiency and less overtime.

Both town and school budgets passed the Legislative Council with a lot of support. The Legislative Council took out its knives because it wanted to keep tax increases to a minimum. It was able to carve $185,000 from the Town budget. It found nothing to eliminate from the school budget.

The requested special appropriations are routine. Three of the six are for necessary improvements to town and school parking lots. One funds the replacement of the turf field at Treadwell Memorial Park; another will pay for improvements to the public works salt storage facility. The last modest request is for a small amount dedicated to open space preservation.

Please take the time to vote and approve the Town budget. Your Town needs your participation. If you don’t know where to go or have any questions, you can call the Registrar of Voters at 203-270-4250.

Anne Renner

Sandy Hook