SEYMOUR – Members of the Seymour Board of Finance approved a revised 2025 – 2026 proposed budget Monday that is about $296,000 less than the spending plan voters rejected April 17.
The combined town and school budget of $68,194,091 will now head to voters at a second referendum scheduled for May 1. Voters will cast ballots from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Seymour Community Center, 20 Pine St.
The revised town side of the budget is now $26.8 million. That’s a reduction of $271,024 from the budget rejected by voters last week.
(Left to right) Seymour Superintendent of Schools Susan Compton and Seymour Board of Education Chairman Chris Champagne.
The revised school budget is now $41.3 million. That’s a reduction of $25,000.
The new mill rate is 27.72 mills.
Under that mill rate, a 3,558 square-foot single-family house on Brookfield Road assessed at $459,060 would pay about $12,725 in taxes next year. That’s an increase of about $1,585.
A 2,101-square-foot single-family house on Colony Road assessed at $304,290 would pay about $8,434 in taxes next year. That’s an increase of about $1,975.
A 1,360-square-foot single-family house on Bungay Road assessed at $230,930 would pay about $6,401 in taxes next year. That’s an increase of about $238.
Former Seymour First Selectman Robert Koskelowski.
School officials said the $25,000 reduction will hurt the district. The proposed budget had already been reduced by $750,000 by residents’ vote at an April 2 annual town meeting.
The school board initially asked for a 7.9 percent increase.
‘We’re going to have to cut teachers, our class sizes are going to go to the maximum and we may have to go to a pay-to-play sports program,” Compton said. “This will gut our school system.”
The school board has not voted on what to change in its spending plan. Those decisions are not made until voters approve a budget.
The proposed school budget still carries an increase of $1.6 million, or 3.9 percent, over this year’s school budget.
The revised town budget now carries a spending increase of $308,000, or 0.98 percent, over this year’s town budget.
