The Seymour schools budget passed at a fourth referendum Thursday.
Voters supported the $30.39 million budget by a vote of 890 to 866.
School and town officials celebrated the vote, but said the small margin of victory indicates there are still many people who are dissatisfied with the proposal.
“I’m sure there is dissatisfaction,” said Board of Education vice chairman Fred Stanek after the vote. “And I do think the Board of Education needs to change the way it’s been doing business for the past several years.”
Specifically, Stanek said, the board can listen to the public better.
Seymour residents had debated the budget proposal — which represents a $603,000 or 2.02 percent increase over current spending — in the days leading up to the referendum June 14.
Those in favor of the budget said the district’s contractual obligations exceeded the $603,000 increase — and said it should be passed for the good of the children.
Those opposed cited concerns with the number of administrators in the district, and their salaries.
The Board of Education had compiled spreadsheets and reports outlining its needs, and justifying the number and pay of administrators.
Board of Education chairman Yashu Putorti said a press conference this week, where he and Stanek answered questions directly, seemed to help get people to vote in favor of the budget.
But he was open to ideas as to how they could communicate with the public more in the future.
“We’re going to find ways to get the word out better,” Putorti said.
Hard Decisions Coming Up
The Board of Education budget is a $603,000 increase over current spending, but its contractual obligations total $960,000, Putorti said.
So the Board of Education plans to meet on Monday at 7:30 p.m. to discuss where to trim to make up for that $257,000.
“We’re not done,” Putorti said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. But I’m happy that it’s over and we can actually finally get to doing that.”
Putorti would not speculate as to where those cuts would come from, saying the board would have to decide at its meeting.
Other members have suggested a pay-to-play program for sports as a way to save money in the future.
Turnout
About 19 percent of registered voters turned out to the polls in Seymour Thursday.
The turnout is better than previous referendums, where 12.7, 16.7, and 18 percent voted.
The chart below outlines the results for the school budget, across all four referendums.
Article continues after chart.
The town budget, at $21,160,166, was approved by voters at the third referendum on May 30.
Mill Rate
Immediately after the vote, the Board of Finance held a meeting to set the town’s tax rate at 32.83 mills.
The current rate is 27.62 mills. However, the town went through a revaluation in the past year.
Town officials have recalculated the current rate to 31.95 to allow residents to make a better comparison.
A resident with a home assessed at $230,000 will pay $7,550 in taxes next year.
Town officials said because of the revaluation, several homeowners might actually see their tax bills decrease next year.
First Selectman Kurt Miller said now that the budgets are final, the town can start moving forward.
Board of Finance Chairman Trish Danka also said she was happy the budget passed Thursday.
“I’m glad the voters are getting the cut they wanted, but the Board of Education will get some money to work with in the upcoming year,” Danka said.
Click here to read everything the Valley Indy has written about the budget.
