ANSONIA — Both the city and school budgets were rejected today (Friday, May 9).
Here are the unofficial results from today’s budget referendum:
1. Shall the city portion of the budget, as recommended by the board of aldermen of $29,879,532 for the fiscal year 2026 be adopted?
Yes: 142
No: 834
(Advisory Question 1) If you voted no on the general government budget, is the budget …
Too High: 779
Too Low: 42
2. 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: 245
No: 730
(Advisory Question 2) If you voted no on the Board of Education budget, is the budget …
Too High: 662
Too Low: 70
The budgets would have increased the mill rate by 3.01 mills, or 11.4 percent.
Both budgets now go back to the Board of Aldermen again for review.
A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, May 19. As of May 9, the meeting was scheduled to be held virtually. The times, dates, and locations for the meetings could change. Check the city website for the most current information.
A third referendum on the budgets is scheduled for Friday, May 23.
Turnout at the referendum was about 8.8 percent, based on the number of 11,369 registered voters in November 2024.
That’s down slightly from the 9.7 percent turnout at the first referendum on April 25, where voters rejected both budgets by similar margins. Voting hours were shortened for the second referendum – starting at 12 p.m., rather than 6 a.m. – and the weather was rainy throughout the day.
The two primary questions – the budget votes – include numbers from 23 absentee ballots. The Valley Indy did not receive absentee ballot numbers for the two advisory questions (“too high”/”too low”).
