Selectmen Move Vote To May 22, Seek Input At Town Meeting—

No Petition Required For Third Budget Referendum

By John Voket

Newtown taxpayers will have a chance to speak at the polls Tuesday, May 22, on whether a revised spending hike in the three percent range is acceptable. While the latest budget proposal still tops $100 million by a fraction, it is significantly closer to both surrounding towns and the rate of inflation that at least one Legislative Council member has been calling for since before the first spending referendum went down April 24.

In final budget deliberations preceding this year’s first vote, Councilman Daniel Amaral warned that taxpayers who contacted him were generally suggesting they would only support a budget increase of about three percent. On the other hand, in subsequent meetings, councilman Keith Jacobs suggested that some education supporters might be voting the budget down because they wanted money restored to the spending package, especially on the school side.

By the last council meeting, however, Mr Jacobs warned constituents and school supporters that No votes were conveying a message to cut more, not to restore or increase funding. Subsequently, Council Chairman Will Rodgers said he views a No vote as a message that spending is excessive.

The entire scenario is similar to last year’s three-time try at adopting a spending package, except for the process of petitioning a subsequent referendum. The Town Charter calls for all budget votes after a second failed referendum to be cast at town meetings unless petitioners are successful at collecting qualified signatures to force additional machine votes.

Town Clerk Cynthia Simon said the last time a budget was passed at a town meeting was May 15, 2000.

This year, selectmen fully expected petitioners to gather enough signatures, so they met May 11 using a state statute that authorizes moving any item on a town meeting agenda directly to referendum. According to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, by doing this, his board not only saved volunteers from having to collect signatures, but effectively moved the budget timeline up by one week.

The last budget proposal went down May 8 by a 390-vote margin with 2,162 in favor and 2,552 against. The first referendum April 24 failed by 75 votes.

Taxpayers will now be asked to consider the sum of $100,482,877. Polls will be open at Newtown Middle School between 6 am and 8 pm on Tuesday, May 22.

Residents are still invited to turn out Monday, May 21, at 7:30 pm, to the Booth Library community room if they wish to offer any further input on the current proposal, but any information discussed at that gathering will have no impact on the referendum the following day.

Mr Rosenthal said that short of polling voter sentiment on advisory questions, the town meeting could provide a forum for those who were or are not in support of the revised spending proposal. But the first selectman agreed that budget supporters are typically more vocal and more likely to speak their mind on the record, as opposed to those who simply cast a No vote to send their message from the privacy of a voting booth.

“I think a lot of people simply do not want to indicate how they are voting publicly,” Mr Rosenthal said. “Supporters traditionally cross that line because they are passionate about programs they are hoping to save when further cuts are threatened.”

He said as much as it would be valuable information to hear why taxpayers are voting No, he was not expecting a significant turnout among that contingent at Monday’s town meeting. Besides moving the tax increase to referendum the next morning, no action will be taken May 21, the town meeting notice states.

The council’s last reduction resulted in a $1 million net cut from the first defeated budget figure split 50/50 between the town and school district.

While district business manager Ron Bienkowski said school-side cuts will not be considered until the final budget number is passed by taxpayers, Newtown Finance Director Benjamin Spragg made an additional $750,000 in cuts following the last failed referendum.

Those cuts include $200,000 in each of two lines, the first from a road improvement line and the second from a proposed infusion of money to the town’s capital nonrecurring account. The original proposal by Mr Spragg was $1 million, which was reduced by selectmen to $750,000. The finance board cut that proposal to $500,000.

That item now amounts to $300,000. Mr Spragg said the fund has historically been used to stabilize property tax increases.

In 2005, the last time that fund was tapped, the town took $300,000 from that line to reduce taxes by about one-tenth of a mill.

Mr Spragg said besides some work on road and trail projects, taxpayers should neither see a reduction in services, nor any jobs cut from town departments as a result of the latest revisions. The Newtown Police Department will lose funding intended to purchase one new patrol car, which means the current existing fleet will remain in service for another year with two new vehicles instead of three to be added.

Additional cuts will delay the hiring of one part-time aid at the senior center for six months and an assistant town engineer by one year, reduce the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers budget by $10,000 and an appropriation for the Booth Library by $15,000. Money proposed for a fire department responder and incentive program will be cut by $10,000, but not eliminated.

Further municipal cuts are as follows:

*Selectmen nonrecurring, $11,205

*Health insurance, $24,900

*Land use-legal services, $10,000

*Public works overlays, $61,500

*Park & Rec trail maintenance, $41,745

*Debt service (principal), $17,100

*Debt service (interest), $8,900

Taxpayers who qualify to cast absentee budget ballots can obtain those forms from the town clerk’s office through Monday, May 21, at 4:30 pm. The town clerk will also hold Saturday hours from 9 am to noon to collect absentee ballots.

Registrar LeReine Frampton said any resident who has come of age to vote since the last budget referendum, or any other resident who wishes, may register to vote up until to 4:30 pm on Monday, May 21. Those persons do not have to register with a party.

Taxpayers who do not wish to register, but who wish to vote must be age 18 or older, be a US citizen, and have at least $1,000 in taxable personal property on the last grand list, which was posted October 1, 2006. That list is kept at the polling place, so those residents do not have to bring proof of taxable property with them to vote.