Stonington residents will have their say on the $57,133,696, 2012-2013 proposed town budget on May 8.
The referendum is the next and possibly final stop in a budget process that began in November of 2011. If voters approve the budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2012 the mill rate would raise 0.42 mills to 16.05 an almost double increase from the 2011-2012 budget. A homeowner with a house appraised at $200,000 would pay an additional $84 in taxes.
Few residents turned out for the Annual Town Budget Meeting held Monday night at and even fewer spoke. Of the four people who spoke the biggest response was a round of applause for one resident who said it was an excellent budget and encouraged people to vote for it. Other speakers voiced concerns about the state of the roads, questioned other potential revenue sources and asked about the money in the budget for the now vacant planning and zoning director position, which the town is still deciding whether or not to fill.
Here is the budget breakdown by department for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. A complete copy of the recommended budget is available on the Town of Stonington website.
- Office of the Selectman: $ 895,734
- Department of Administrative Services: $ 3,612,630
- Department of Finance $ 1,530,370
- Debt Service: $ 4,694,175
- Department of Planning & Land Use: $ 387,797
- Department of Public Works: $ 6,047,614
- Department of Police Services $ 4,682,170
- Department of Human Services $ 1,059,476
- Board of Education: $33,206,600
- Schedule C Capital Improvements $ 2,216,600
On May 8 polls will open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. The First and Third Voting Districts will vote at the , the Second District at the and the Fourth and Fifth at the
In 2011, only 12 percent of those which passed with 1,083 voting yes and 394 voted no.
