ANSONIA – Voters will decide on proposed city and school budgets at a third referendum Friday, May 23, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Ansonia Armory (5 State St).

Here’s a cheat sheet to share with friends and neighbors.

The Whole Thing

  • The total proposed budget (city budget plus school budget) is $68.1 million. It carries a spending increase of $1.7 million, or 2.6 percent

But . . .

Voters Friday will decide on proposed budgets for the city and schools separately.

The Proposed City Budget

  • $29.6 million

  • A 0.5 percent increase (or $145,827) over the current budget

  • Click here to read about tweaks made since the last time the budget was defeated

  • Click here to access city budget documents

The Proposed School Budget

  • $39.1 million

  • 4.2 percent increase, or $1.58 million

  • Click here to read about tweaks made since the last time the budget was defeated

  • Click here for a story on the last time school officials met to talk about the budget

  • Click here to access school budget documents

Mill Rate

  • Current mill rate: 26.49

  • Proposed mill rate 29.04 (source: budget director Kurt Miller)

  • Increase of 2.55 mills, or 9.6 percent

Property Tax Impact On Single-Family Houses

  • House on Holbrook Street assessed at $180,000 would pay $459 more

  • House on Gardners Lane assessed at $248,000 would pay $632 more

  • House on High Acres Road assessed at $366,000 would pay $933 more

The Questions

  1. Shall the city portion of the budget, as recommended by the board of aldermen of $29,652,920 for the fiscal year 2026 be adopted?
    Yes:
    No:

(Advisory Question 1)
If you voted no on the general government budget, is the budget . . .
Too high:
Too low:

  1. Shall the board of education portion of the budget, as recommended by the board of aldermen, $39,560,719 for the City of Ansonia for the fiscal year 2026 be adopted?
    Yes:
    No:

(Advisory Question 2)
If you voted no on the Board of Education budget, is the budget . . .
Too high:
Too low:

Note:

Speakers in recent budget hearings have expressed confusion at the two advisory questions on the ballot.

The two advisory questions have no impact on whether the budgets pass. You don’t have to answer the advisory questions.

By The Way . . .

  • If both budget proposals pass, then they will be adopted as-is for the fiscal year starting on July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026.

  • If both proposals fail, then they will be sent back to the Aldermen. The Aldermen would review the budgets again and discuss making changes before sending the budgets out to a fourth referendum.

  • If one budget passes and the other fails, the failed budget goes back to the Aldermen for review and sent out to referendum again.

What’s With All These Votes?

  • The Ansonia City Charter requires voter approval for any budget proposal containing a 3 percent increase or more in ​‘net taxes to be collected.’

  • ‘Net taxes to be collected’ refers to the total amount of tax dollars the city expects to collect in a given year.

  • According to Miller, the current budget proposal contains $40,485,579 in ​‘net taxes to be collected.’ That’s a 6.9 percent increase from the current budget.

  • This budget process was established by charter changes made by Mayor David Cassetti’s administration and approved by voters in 2014.

  • This is the first time the new charter provision has been triggered.

OK, Now Let’s Really Confuse You

  • The new fiscal year starts on July 1. If a budget hasn’t been adopted by then, the charter says that the city has to send out property tax bills based on the current mill rate of 26.49 mills.

  • Then, if a budget is adopted after July 1 with a different mill rate, the city would send out a second property tax bill. That bill would cover the difference between the old and new mill rates.

  • The city’s calendar currently shows a public hearing and Aldermen meeting scheduled for June 2 if either proposal fails, and then a fourth referendum for June 6 if needed.