Both the proposed 2026-27 municipal and school budgets passed by fewer than 50 votes during the May 19 referendum.

The $50,982,035 town budget passed 1,938 to 1,891, a margin of 47 votes; the $95,561,919 Board of Education budget passed 1,938 to 1,897, a margin of 41 votes.

Advisory questions, rendered irrelevant by the passage of the budget, asking if the town budget should be higher if not passed received 1,049 yes votes and 2,738 no votes, and if the school budget should be higher received 1,399 yes votes and 2,408 no votes.

This means that the $146,543,954 budget is approved in its entirety, with a 3.48% spending increase over last year. This increases the mill rate to 29.30 mills, a .56 mill or 1.96% tax rate increase over last year's mill rate of 28.74.

First Selectman Bruce Walczak said he was "glad" the budget passed.

"We have a budget and can move forward," Walczak said.

Additionally, an advisory question on a $2,317,210 HVAC system at Newtown High School in the C, D, and F wings of the building passed, 2,375 to 1,447.

Turnout was 21%, with 3,863 of 18,383 registered voters casting a vote.

"The closeness concerns me," said Walczak. "It doesn't tell me what the residents think of the budget. I don't know how to infer if it represents the sentiment of the other 79% who didn't vote. Are we on course or way off?"

Board of Education Chairman Alison Plante thanked voters who came out to vote in both the current referendum and the one on April 28.

"I look forward to working with Superintendent [Anne] Uberti and my colleagues on the Board of Education to make the necessary adjustments to reflect the $525,000 reduction from our original budget," said Plante. "I’m confident that I speak for the Board when I say that we will seek to minimize the impact on classroom learning. As with every decision we make as a team, our responsibility is to do what’s best for kids with the resources we are allocated."

Legislative Council Chairman Laura Miller said in a statement she was "pleased that the community voted to approve this year's budget" and she was thankful to all who voted.

"However, I am deeply mindful of the clear message sent by the voters: rising expenses are stretching everyone's finances, and support for this budget was closely divided," stated Miller. "Looking ahead to this coming year, a priority will be increasing the active engagement of our subcommittees. I intend to task our Finance and Municipal subcommittees with regularly attending Board of Finance (BOF) and Board of Selectmen (BOS) meetings, ensuring we are fully integrated into how this budget is executed. Similarly, our Education subcommittee will be asked to dive deeper into the BOE budget, celebrating the successes and tackling the ongoing challenges facing our schools. Together, we will work diligently to maintain the quality of our community services and fully support our schools, while strictly minimizing unnecessary spending."

This is the second referendum on the 2026-27 town and school budgets. Voters denied the previous budget on April 28, saying no to the $51 million town budget, 1,791 no to 1,506 yes votes; and the $96 million school budget, 1,798 no to 1,504 yes.

The Legislative Council met on May 5 and made approximately $471,000 in cuts to the town and $400,000 in cuts to the schools.

Approved cuts by the council were a $65,000 reduction to roads, a $75,000 reduction to NYFS, reduction of a technology director salary by $15,000, $4,000 from registrars, $50,000 from mid-year hire of a new police officer, $10,000 from contingency, $5,100 from seasonal wages for a finance intern, $2,000 from EDC inflation cushion, $25,000 from a teen center furnace, $4,000 from the United Way, $25,000 from tree removal, $75,000 from a facilities maintainer, $54,464 from an assistant building official, $23,097 from a Parks & Rec excavator, $15,000 from ECD new spending, $9,000 from Highway Department random drug testing, $10,000 from police radar testing, and $4,600 from MDT replacement software.

The specific cuts to the school budget will not be made until the budget is passed.

Prior to the first referendum, a number of items were reduced from the town budget by the Legislative Council, including $20,000 in contributions to Newtown Youth and Family Services; $10,000 to C.H. Booth Library, $13,000 for two pickup trucks, $12,500 for cameras for the tax collector, $36,000 from a salary for a building inspector since the position will only be employed half a year, and $70,000 for a senior administrator position. Proposed cuts to the Board of Education did not pass.

Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.