Old Lyme budget goes to town meeting tonight

Old Lyme - Residents will vote on the proposed 2012-13 budget at 7:30 tonight at the annual budget meeting in Town Hall.

The budget stands at $32,607,899, a 2.99 percent increase over the current budget. Town government expenditures total $8,310,009, a 0.76 percent decrease, while Old Lyme's share of the Lyme-Old Lyme school budget is $24,297,890, a 4.35 percent increase.

Residents of both Lyme and Old Lyme on May 8 voted overwhelmingly in favor of the regional school district's $31 million spending plan.

If approved, the town budget would raise the tax rate from 18.8 mills to 19.26 mills. That would mean that a resident with a home assessed at $378,100 would pay about $170 more in taxes next year, finance board Chairman Andrew Russell has said.

Residents at the meeting will also vote to appropriate $142,283 for the emergency management account, for expenses associated with Tropical Storm Irene; $200,000 for the dredging of Four Mile and Black Hall rivers; and $290,000 for the Rogers Lake dam project.

The town expects to receive grants to help pay for these expenses.

- JENNA CHO