For only the second time in the past decade, the budget has failed at referendum, and for the first time in 13 years, it wasn't just because voters opposed the school budget. Both the municipal and Board of Education budgets went down by approximately 200 vote margins (see our referendum story, also on page A1).

What was different was that voter turnout decreased for the first time in three years following it bottoming out in 2022 at 7.7%. Last year's referendum hit 25.4%. This year, the turnout was 3,326 casting votes out of 18,367 registered voters, an 18% turnout.

The 2025 budget referendum passed with 4,287 out of 18,310 eligible voters casting a vote, 25.4%. This was up 17.7% from the low in 2022.

For the 2024 budget referendum, during which the feedback was negative, the education budget went down for the first time in 11 years; 1,701 No votes to 1,194 Yes votes, with a 15.1% turnout. In May, it passed, 2075 Yes votes to 1198 No votes, with a turnout of 17.4%.

In 2023, Newtown had a turnout of approximately 8.8%, the first year of increased participation after years of waning participation, especially following the COVID pandemic. In 2022, participation was only 7.7%; in 2021, the turnout was 8.98%; in 2020, there was no budget referendum due to the pandemic; in 2019, turnout was 17%; in 2018, turnout was 15.7%; and in 2017, turnout was 19.9%.

Lower voter turnout is not only a sign of voter apathy but also a sign of lessened support. While a large amount of people made sure to turn out in 2025 to support a difficult sell budget with a more than six percent increase largely driven by self-insurance claims, that same ground swell did not again come out to support the budget.

Sending out a budget and having it voted down isn't a bad thing — it gives a chance to those who would like the opportunity to support a higher budgetary point. However, the message is clear, shown by lower turnout and both budgets going down for the first time in 13 years: Between sticky inflation that began in 2021 and still hasn't completely gone away, as well as escalating affordability issues such as insurance, energy, and housing, and gas prices continuing their recent spike, households across Connecticut are struggling. Residents in Newtown and across the state are continuingly being asked to pay more while their wages are not keeping pace. It is not sustainable, and voters cannot be blamed for saying "no" when given an opportunity.

The Board of Finance and the council have their work cut out for them, and hopefully they can find a way to get to a number residents can live with without gutting town services.