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Vote ‘Yes’

On Tuesday, May 14, Madison holds its annual budget referendum for the Town and school budgets. I encourage residents to vote “yes” for both these responsible budgets which were approved with bipartisan, unanimous support.

With an operating budget increase of 3%, the Town budget reflects community needs and priorities in line with our new Strategic Plan. Like many Connecticut towns, almost 25% of this year’s operating budget increase is due to skyrocketing healthcare costs. Excluding healthcare, the Town’s operating budget grew only 1.5% despite persistent inflation. To keep costs down, the Town cut $237,000 in expenses to offset increases in labor contracts and other fixed costs. Expenditures were also reduced by eliminating vacant positions and offsetting new hours with reductions to others. A police officer is the only new, full-time position in the budget.

The school budget was also impacted by healthcare and contractual increases. Health insurance alone accounts for 1.25% of the total 3% increase. In addition, the Board of Finance (BOF) made reductions totaling $240,000 to the proposed budget.

Both budgets reflect a long-term plan to absorb new debt from voter-approved bonding projects by replacing local taxpayer dollars with government grants ($17 million since 2020) for infrastructure projects and maintaining contributions to capital savings accounts for future maintenance needs. This strategy has helped Madison keep its mill rate growth below 2% over the last five years. This year, the BOF will seek a sizable mill rate reduction of almost 8 mills (27%) to account for the revaluation and to minimize the budget impact on taxpayers. I urge voters to visit the tax calculator on the town website to determine the potential impact of the revaluation on their property taxes.

Please vote "yes" on May 14 to maintain our excellent public services, critical infrastructure, and exceptional schools.

Peggy Lyons

Madison

Peggy Lyons is the First Selectwoman of Madison