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04/30/2023 07:03 AMClinton’s proposed town and education budgets go to referendum on Wednesday, May 10. The Town Council unanimously voted on April 5 to send a proposed combined budget of $62,148,955, a $2,483,084 or 4.16% increase; while spending increases, there is no tax increase in this year’s proposed budget.
This year’s referendum will be very straightforward, with voters only facing two questions on the ballot: to vote “Yes” or “No” on the proposed town budget of $23,376,078 (a $1,499,443 or 6.85% increase and to vote “Yes” or “No” on the proposed Board of Education (BOE) budget of $38,772,877, a $983,641 or a 2.6% increase.
Under the proposed budget, the mill rate would remain flat at 29.83.
To be eligible to vote in Clinton’s budget referendum, a person must be a registered voter in the town or own a property or a vehicle assessed at more than $1,000. The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Green Room in Town Hall.
The budget will be presented on Wednesday, May 3, at 7 p.m. at the town Annual Budget Meeting in Town Hall; the meeting is largely a formality called to move the budget to referendum.
A complete breakdown on the budget can be found on the town’s website, clintonct.org.
Unlike some area towns, Clinton voters vote on the education and town budgets separately, as opposed to just the total budget. This means it is possible for voters to approve one budget and reject the other in the same referendum. Should the voters opt not to pass either proposed budget at the first referendum, the budget 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.
However, while some of the old budget controversy flickered in 2023, the possibility of multiple budget referendums has begun to look less and less likely over the last several years.
From 2009 to 2018, Clinton developed a well-earned reputation for having difficulty getting budgets passed. Only once in this time period (2017) did voters pass both budgets at the first referendum. Across the decade, a total of 16 different referenda were held, highlighted by the spring of 2018 when it took four referenda to get both budgets passed.
Things have been markedly different in the last four budget cycles. Voters passed both budgets at one referendum in 2019; meanwhile, in 2020, the referendum was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and instead, the town was allowed via an executive order to pass a budget without a town-wide vote. In 2021 and 2022, the voters again approved both budgets at the first referendum, this time by a two-to-one margin. The total number of votes cast in 2022 was 1,127, which represents a voter turnout of 11 percent of registered voters, well below the usual turnout from the height of the budget controversy over the previous decade.
While things have been mostly smooth over the last five years, a proposal by some town council members to reduce the proposed BOE operating budget was met with vocal opposition from members of the public at a public hearing on April 5.
At a meeting after the public hearing, the town council unanimously voted to restore funding to the BOE budget.