Registered Newtown voters, today is the day.

Qualified electors have an opportunity to exercise their civic duty between the hours of 6 am and 8 pm by taking a few minutes to vote on the two local budget proposals and two bonding requests. All voting is being conducted in the gymnasium of Newtown Middle School, 11 Queen Street.

Any person who is a registered voter in the Town of Newtown, or who is a US citizen who lives out of town but is assessed for at least $1,000 for real estate or motor vehicles on the 2021 Grand List for the Town of Newtown, is qualified to vote at the referendum.

The Town Clerk's office will not be issuing any absentee ballots today, only receiving the final ones to be counted in today's referendum. Those who have already applied for and completed an absentee ballot, but have not yet completed and submitted it, must drop their ballot be received at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, by 8 pm. Any ballots dropped after that will not be registered.

Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia Halstead confirmed to The Newtown Bee Monday that absentee ballots can be dropped into either of the two drop boxes located outside the municipal center.

Anyone visiting the Office of the Town Clerk with a completed absentee ballot on Tuesday will be redirected to the ballot box outside the building, Aurelia Halstead said.

Ballot Details

On this year’s budget ballot, voters are being asked to separately endorse or reject the Board of Education’s budget request of $82,134,639; and the municipal operating budget request of $46,891,399, which includes all debt service on bonding including for all school projects.

Each request also asks voters to note whether the revision should be higher if the proposed sum is not approved. These answers would help the Legislative Council modify one or both new requests if one or both are rejected.

Voters are also being asked to accept or reject requested underwriting in the amount of $850,000 for the Newtown High School ventilation systems and HVAC renovations, and $600,000 for improvements to the Edmond Town Hall parking lot.

Approval of the Newtown High School resolution will allow the replacement of existing rooftop heating at 12 Berkshire Road, ventilation, and air conditioning units servicing the A-wing at the high school. This includes new HVAC equipment, electrical connections, piping connections, building management system (BMS) controls, and variable air volume box control upgrades.

Approval of the Edmond Town Hall resolution will allow the resurfacing of the parking lot at 45 Main Street, including the refurbishment of existing drainage infrastructure and the addition of new infrastructure as necessary; additional parking spaces will be added, and overall traffic flow and pedestrian safety will be improved; and demolition of the former firehouse in the rear parking lot.

A sample ballot can be viewed here.

Read more here: Specifics From 2022-23 Budget Deliberations, Amendments, Votes Detailed

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.