The budget clock is ticking in New London.Kathleen Edgecomb reports here the City Council is busy whittling away, paring Mayor Finizio's outrageous proposal for a 20 percent tax increase down to a more realistic increase of two percent or so. Then the mayor gets to wield a veto. Voters can have the final say.

Under the City Charter, the mayor has the authority to veto the entire budget or portions of it. The council needs six of seven votes to override a veto.

The council has until May 1 to approve a budget and the mayor has 15 days to act on it. If no action is taken the budget is passed to the Board of Finance, which will hold hearings on two appropriations: one for the schools and one for municipal government.

Residents can also petition for a referendum for either the school budget or municipal budget, or both.

Even if the council succeeds in throwing a bucket of cold budget water on the mayor, I sense a referendum coming.