No taxpayer votes on Stonington budgets this year
Stonington — Residents voting on the annual budget, a longtime tradition here, will not take place this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont allows municipalities to adopt budgets without going through the usual process of town meetings and referendums, which involve large numbers of residents congregating in small spaces.
The Board of Finance, which held a virtual public hearing on the budget earlier this month, is slated to virtually meet Wednesday at 4 p.m. to review the proposed budget and finalize a proposal to send to the Board of Selectmen.
Typically the selectwomen then would set a town meeting and referendum vote on the budget, but this year they will just vote to adopt it.
But First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough said she plans a joint virtual meeting between the boards of selectmen and finance on May 12, at which time the selectwomen will approve the budget and the finance board officially will set the tax rate.
The proposed budget now calls for a 0.24 mill tax rate increase but it is expected the Board of Finance will finalize a budget that calls for no tax increase, or possibly a decrease.
In the borough, where the proposed 2020-21 budget of $1,356,269 is increasing $60,432 but the tax rate is remaining at the current 3.0 mills, Warden Jeff Callahan said the Board of Warden and Burgesses is scheduled to meet virtually on May 18 to approve the budget. Typically, the budget is approved in May by residents attending the annual borough meeting.
Callahan said that the borough typically collects all of its taxes each year. If tax collections dip due to the economic impact of the pandemic on property owners, he said the borough can tap some of its $300,000 surplus and then replace it when the taxes are paid.
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