The hush in the room was followed by a cheer — one school supporters had been waiting months to let out.
After three failed attempts, the Seymour school budget had finally passed.
Voters approved the zero-increase, $29.1 million school budget by a 134-vote margin Thursday.
The vote total was 820 to 686, with 54 percent of the 1,506 voters supporting the budget.
The approval, paired with last month’s approval of the $20.25 million town budget, means a homeowner with a house assessed at $200,000 will see a tax increase of $196.
The new tax rate of 26.78 mills is less than one mill above the current rate.
Reaction
Superintendent MaryAnne Mascolo was all smiles after the vote results were read.
“I’m very happy parents wanted to come out and support programs for their kids,” she said. “The good news is now we can get on with the business of educating our children and planning for next year.”
First Selectman Paul Roy said he was also happy with the result.
“I’m very glad the budget came out the way it did,” said Roy. “People realized we need to pass this budget and get a move on, get back to governing the town. I expect everything to go smoothly from now on.”
No Increase
This will be the second year in a row that the school district has taken no increase in its budget.
Since 2008, health insurance and special education costs for the district have risen, school officials said.
The only way the district avoided layoffs for the upcoming year was with teacher resignations and retirements, officials said.
The no-increase budget means the district won’t be able to hire additional specialists, as it had planned.
The lack of increase also leaves the district at the absolute minimum for its state budget requirement.
State statute requires that approved school district budgets either stay the same or increase each year. The state penalizes towns that do not adhere to this by withdrawing state funding — $2 for every $1 cut by towns.
“I think we all dreaded, if this went down, having to go back and figure out what to do,” said Mark Thompson, the head of the finance board. Click play on the video above to see his reaction.
The approval comes with just days to go before the town charter’s June 15 deadline for setting a townwide budget.
The charter requires that deadline so tax bills can go out in time — by June 30.
Tax Collector Dana Flach said tax bills will go out on June 30, and may be paid between July 1 and July 30.
For background and a full list of articles on the Seymour budget proposal, click here.
