Town Budget Fails At Referendum; School Budget Passes

The people spoke at the budget referendum May 9 and voted down the $15 million town budget, but passed the $31.3 million school budget.

For the town budget, the vote was 1,409 to 1,349, a difference of 60 votes. For the school budget, the budget passed by a vote of 1,462 to 1,292, a difference of 170 votes.

There were only two questions on the ballot.

The registrars of voters said 2,762 voters came out to vote. There were 90 property owners (electors) who voted and there were 69 absentee ballots. Clinton has 9,007 registered voters as of May 9.

Immediately following the results of the referendum, the Board of Finance met to discuss possible cuts to the town budget. They agreed not to touch the capital or debt service budgets and to look at the operating budget.

In the end, they voted to direct the Board of Selectmen to cut $75,000 from the town budget.

The Board of Selectmen plan to hold a special meeting May 11. At the meeting, they will decide where cuts shall take place. They will bring those suggestions to the finance board at their next meeting which is May 14.

A public hearing on the reduced town budget will be held May 16.

A second referendum vote on the reduced town budget will be held May 23.