North Stonington — The Board of Finance has asked the Board of Education and Board of Selectman to cut about $500,000 from the $18.9 million budget proposal that failed at the July 2 referendum.

It was the second budget to fail at referendum. First Selectman Nicholas H. Mullane II said a meeting Thursday night that went close to midnight ended with the request, which will bring the town “pretty close” to flat-funding its 2012-13 budget.

The 2011-12 budget was about $18.01 million; the reductions in both portions would bring the proposal to about $18.4 million. The increase would be about 1.6 percent over last year’s budget.

The general-government budget would total about $6.3 million, while about $12.1 million would be spent on education. Neither number has been finalized because each board has to meet, Mullane said, with the selectmen scheduled to meet Tuesday and the school board Wednesday.

A town meeting is scheduled for July 23, Mullane said, with a third try at a referendum now scheduled for July 30.

"The people are angry and have expressed their opinions and have said what they want,” Mullane said. “If we want to get a budget, we’ve got to do what they want. That’s all there is to it.”