Update: Stonington Budget Approved; Board Of Education Meets Thursday

Stonington voters approved a $56.7 million town budget for the 2012-13 year, Tuesday.

At the second budget referendum 1,677 residents voted for the budget, while 1,045 voted against it. About 22 percent of the Stonington’s registered voters, 2,722 residents, cast ballots.

At the first budget referendum on May 8, voters . Of the 12,167 registered voters, 2,282 or 19 percent voted in May. And of those, 1,125 voted in favor of the budget and 1,157 voted to send it back to finance for further cuts, a difference of 32 votes.

First Selectman ., said he was glad the town was able to pass a budget.

The $56,733,696 approved budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year begins on July 1, 2012. It sets the mill rate at 15.89 a 0.26 mills increase from the 2011-12 budget. A property owner with a house appraised at $250,000 will pay an additional $65 in property taxes.

The Stonington Board of Education, which has to cut at least $300,000 from their proposed budget now that the town budget has been approved meets on Thursday, June 7, at 6:30 p.m., at to finalize their budget. At their May 25, Board of Education meeting a list of $403,379 in cuts and savings.

Here is a breakdown by polling location of the budget referendum:

District Yes No Total Voted Total Eligible Percentage First And Third Districts 479 319 798 3275 24 Second District 798 457 1255 5236 24 Fourth And Fifth Districts 385 261 646 3625 18 *Total 1677 1045 2722 12136 22

*There were 23 absentee ballots and of those 15 voted in favor and 8 voted against.