CORRECTION: The Valley Indy has been reporting that a referendum in Ansonia is required if a mill rate increase totals three percent or more. THIS IS WRONG.
Ansonia City Corporation Counsel John Marini and Ansonia Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley told The Valley Indy on April 8 that a referendum is triggered if the budget approved by the Ansonia Board of Aldermen represents an increase of three percent or more in net taxes to be collected from the previous year’s budget.
The Valley Indy regrets the error.
April 8, 2025
ANSONIA – Ansonia’s proposed budget could head to a referendum late April.
That’s because, as currently proposed, it carries a mill rate increase of 9.85 percent compared to last year. The city’s charter requires voter approval for any mill rate increase of more than three percent.
Details on how a referendum would work are still being worked out, according to Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini.
The process would start as soon as the Aldermen vote to adopt a budget (with a mill rate increase of more than three percent). That could happen in mid-April, Marini said. He said he doesn’t expect the Aldermen to adopt a budget at their regular meeting on April 8.
Once the Aldermen vote to adopt, the budget then has to go to a referendum within five days.
Marini said voting would likely happen at one location. He suggested the Armory (5 State St.) as a possible location.
Voters would be asked two questions, according to the charter. Those questions are:
Shall the city portion of the budget, as recommended by the board of aldermen of (dollar amount) for the fiscal year (specify year) be adopted?
Shall the board of education portion of the budget, as recommended by the board of aldermen, (of dollar amount) for the City of Ansonia for the fiscal year (specify year) be adopted?
As currently proposed, the budget’s city portion is $30,033,120, a 1.79 percent increase from this year. The board of education’s proposed budget is $39,560,719, a 5.28 percent increase from this year. Those numbers could change between now and the Aldermen’s vote to adopt a budget.
Voters will be given the option to vote “yes” or “no” on each question, and will additionally get to vote “too high” or “too low” on both sides of the budget, according to the charter.
If voters rejected the proposed budget, it goes back to the Aldermen. Within five days, they have to meet again and set a date for another referendum. The process repeats until voters approve a budget.
Alternatively, the Aldermen could modify the budget so that the mill rate increase goes down to under three percent. In that case, they could adopt a final budget without holding another referendum.
Marini said the city is currently preparing for the possibility of up to three referendums. Dates haven’t been set yet.
If no budget is approved by June 20, the charter says the city must send out tax bills based on the previous year’s mill rate. That mill rate in Ansonia is currently 26.49 mills.
However, once a budget is approved, the city would then send out a second bill. That second bill would collect the difference between what taxpayers already paid, and what they owe under the new mill rate.
(Say you paid $300 in taxes this year, and a budget passes after June 20 that says you should pay $350. Your first bill would be for $300; the second bill would be for $50.)
This is the first time Ansonia’s budget has required a referendum since Mayor David Cassetti’s administration rewrote the city charter’s annual budget process in 2015.
The new process was written by Marini. You can read that section of the charter here.
Because it’s the first time Ansonia has needed to hold a referendum, Marini said city officials in the registrar’s office are still working to decide the logistics of how it will work. He said he expects a thorough explanation and discussion of how a referendum will work at the Aldermen’s regular meeting April 8.
Alternatively, if the mill rate in the proposed budget goes down to 27.28 mills or less between now and the Aldermen’s vote to adopt, then the city could call off the referendum and adopt that budget without a public vote.