At its Jan. 18 meeting, the Town Council unanimously approved a budget calendar that calls for the Council to hold a series of workshops during the month of February before providing a proposed budget on Wednesday, March 8, and holding a public hearing on Wednesday, April 5.

The Town Council will receive budget presentations across different days. First, on Thursday, Feb. 16, Town Manager Karl Kilduff will provide a brief overview of his proposed town budget, and Superintendent of Schools Maryann O’Donnell will present the proposed Board of Education budget at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.

Next, department heads will present their proposed budgets at 6 p.m. workshops on Thursday, Feb. 23, Tuesday, Feb. 28, and Thursday, March 2. Kilduff told the Harbor News that, at press time, the schedule for which departments are reviewed on which date is still being determined. In addition to the town departments and the education budget, the capital and debt budgets will also be discussed.

Following the completion of the workshops, the Council will hold a special meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 8 at 6 p.m. to vote on Kilduff’s proposed budget. At the meeting, the Council can accept or ask for changes to be made to the budget. The Council will vote that night to forward a proposed budget to a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, April 5 at 6 p.m.

At that public hearing, speakers can voice their opinions for or against either the education or town budget. Immediately following the public hearing, the Town Council will hold a special meeting at which it can make any last changes to either the budget before sending it to a referendum scheduled for Wednesday, May 10.

At the referendum, residents vote to approve or reject the proposed town and education budgets individually. Voters cast their vote for each budget separately, which means it is possible for voters to pass one budget and reject the other in the same referendum.

If one or both of the budgets fail, it is revised by the Town Council immediately following the vote. Another public hearing is held the following week, and another referendum is held the week after the public hearing.

For most of the last decade, budget season has been a thorny issue in town, one that causes tension and, occasionally, tempers to flare. Turnout in Clinton’s referendum was usually higher than that of surrounding towns as reasons to support or reject the budgets were passionately debated. In fact, from 2009 to 2019, only during 2019 and 2016 were town leaders able to get both the town and education budget passed during the first referendum.

Things have been markedly different in the past few years, however. In 2020, the budget referendum was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An executive order from Governor Ned Lamont gave the legislative bodies of each municipality the authority to set their own budget due to concerns about the ability to vote safely during the early days of the pandemic. The Council then unanimously approved its own proposed budget in late May 2020.

The in-person referendum returned in 2021, but the passion that usually goes with it did not. The vote drew 1,575 people, a turnout of 17 percent in 2021, the lowest turnout in over a decade. Turnout fell in 2022 with 1,127 voters, or about 11 percent of registered voters. However, falling turnout is not necessarily a bad thing for the town. Both the town and education budgets have overwhelmingly passed in one referendum in 2021 and 2022.