Four hours into today's budget balloting at Newtown Middle School, Republican Registrar JoAnne Albanesi had logged only 522 votes. Any registered voter or Newtown resident with at least $1,000 in taxable property on the current Grand List is eligible to vote on today's split budget proposal.

Polls remain pen until 8 pm, and Ms Albanesi said that if an unregistered property owner is motivated to head to the polls, they should make contact with the moderator to arrange to cast a ballot.

Today's split, or bifurcated, referendum asks the following budget questions:

Shall the sum of $40,142,567 be appropriated as the budget for the

Board of Selectmen for the fiscal year?

Shall the sum of $71,587,946 be appropriated for the budget for the

Board of Education for the fiscal year?

The referendum also includes these advisory questions:

Do you deem the proposed sum of $40,142,567 to be appropriated for

the Board of Selectmen as “too low”?

Do you deem the proposed sum of $71,587,946 to be appropriated for

the Board of Education as “too low”?

The overall 2015-16 budget requests voters approve or deny a $111,730,513 spending plan, which represents a 0.6 percent increase over the current year.

The school district proposal is $71,587,946, representing a 0.34 percent increase, and the town side or selectmen’s request including all municipal and school district capital debt service is $40,142,567 or a 1.06 percent increase.

Capital debt service represents $10,110,702 of that overall municipal request.

If approved as presented to voters at referendum, the new spending plan would represent a net reduction in taxation of 0.71 percent, with a new tax rate of 33.07 mills, down from the current rate of 33.31. A mill represents one dollar for every $1,000 in taxable property.

Many officials say this is the first budget request in recent history that came forward with tax rate reduction.

Finance Director Robert Tait explained that overall taxation and the mill rate would be reduced even though the budget is calling for slightly more spending because of new grand list revenue, additional charges for services, and intergovernmental revenue totaling $664,309.

Along with a debt service cost reduction, significant savings were developed as a result of a positive claims trend in the town’s self-insured employee health plan.

Besides those casting votes in person Tuesday at the middle school, an additional 76 absentee ballots are expected back by the Town Clerk before the close of voting at 8 pm.