Town's $57 Million Budget Referendum Fails

It’s back to the drawing board, or in this case, the town Finance Board. 

The 2012-2013 $57 million town budget referendum failed Tuesday, according to the town registrar. 

Of the 12,167 registered voters, 2,282 voted, or 19 percent of voters and that total includes 27 absentee ballots counted. 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. 

According to registrar Linda Camelio, “it’s been that close before.” 

By 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, just 6 percent of the registered voters in Mystic and Old Mystic had turned out to vote and give a thumbs-up, or down, to the proposed spending plan. 

District 2, which includes Pawcatuck, was the only district in total that voted in favor of the budget; 529 voters cast ballots to approve while 460 voted no. 

One voter, Dan P. (who asked that his last name not be used) declined to say how he voted but offered, “You have a 50-50 chance of getting it right.”  Indeed, an even chance because there were only two possible votes; yes or no; yes means the budget is fine as is and a no could mean additional cuts are necessary or the voter is otherwise not in favor of the budget as presented. 

If the budget had passed, it would have meant the mill rate would have been set at 16.05, a .042 mills increase from the 2011-2012 fiscal year. A property owner with a home assessed at $200,000 would have seen an increase in their annual tax bill of $84.      

The breakdown is as follows:

                      YES NO      Total voted      Total Eligible   % Voted

Districts 1 and 3          311         365         676                3255                21%

District 2                     529         460         989                5266               19%

Districts 4 and 5          270          320         590                3646               16%

Absentee                     15            12            27