Berlin's Budget War: Voters Say 'No,' But Town Says 'Yes'

BERLIN, CT — While voters last week did reject Berlin's town/education budget for 2025-26 for the second time, the town charter's budget clause, essentially, took the power of their vote away.

According to the Berlin Town Charter, the town is allowed two referendums during budget season.

If those two votes result in budget rejections, then the budget adoption process reverts to the Berlin Town Council and Berlin Board of Finance.

What does that mean?

It means that even if voters say "no" to Berlin's school/town spending plans for a given fiscal year, town officials can still say "yes."

That's exactly what happened this week, when the Berlin Town Council Tuesday, June 3, simply adopted a town/school spending plan, as the charter allows them to do.

Meanwhile, the Berlin Board of Finance Wednesday, June 4, set a mill rate that was only slightly smaller than the budget/mill rate impact shot down by voters last week.

Voter turnout at the May 27 referendum was an anemic 3.87 percent, with voters saying "no" to the town's general government budget, with 292 "yes" votes and 320 "no" votes.

The vote rejecting the education budget was even wider, with voters registering 227 "yes" votes to 390 "no" votes.

Advisory questions indicated that town spending was too high and school spending was as well, albeit by a much smaller margin.

Budget Adopted Anyway

Tuesday, a chaotic Berlin Town Council vote on the budget resulted in a narrow, 4-3 decision by the council.

State Rep. Donna Veach, R-Berlin, also a town council member, was unable to be at the meeting, but the council was able to reach out to her remotely so she could provide the tie-breaking vote after a 3-3 deadlock appeared likely.

The adopted budget kept the Berlin Board of Education spending plan as is and cut $20,460 from the town's general government budget.

Ultimately, the town council approved:

•A combined $106.55 town/school budget for 2025-26, 3.61 percent larger than current spending.

• In that budget was a $54.57 million education budget, a 3.9 percent increase.

• In addition, the budget included a $51.98 million general government budget, a 3.3 percent hike.

When the numbers were crunched, the new budgets translate into a tax increase that is pretty much the same as the one associated with the budgets shot down by voters last week.

The new mill rate, adopted by the finance board Wednesday, is 30.65, which is only 0.44 mills larger than the tax rate last year.

For the average home in Berlin assessed at $345,000, it means a tax hike of $151.80 compared to the tax bill of a year ago.

Charter's impact

With Berlin's spending set despite being rejected at the polls twice, town officials confirmed the situation this week.

"The charter provides for two automatic referendum votes (if the budget passes at the first referendum, then the second is not necessary)," said Berlin Director of Finance & Treasurer Kevin Delaney to Patch this week.

"If the budget does not pass at the second referendum, then the board of finance submits a new budget to the town council (although the charter does not require the BOF to change the budget) and the town council is required to vote on that budget within five days."

Council members admitted the situation with the charter, Tuesday when deliberating the budget.

Berlin Mayor Mark Kaczinski, a Republican, defended the charter provision that allows for the town to simply adopt a budget that has been rejected twice by voters.

As council members wrestled with budget deliberations Tuesday, one official jokingly indicated the town should have a third referendum, an idea shot down by Kaczinski.

"Somebody has suggested that we just keep having them until we pass them, right?" Kaczinski said Tuesday. "Some towns do that, and you're right, they don't get their budget passed until October.

"No, we don't want to do that. I'm sorry we went to a second referendum, quite frankly, but that's what the charter commission thought," he said.

Berlin voters, however, do have recourse if they want to eliminate Berlin officials' ability to unilaterally adopt a budget regardless of the referendum outcomes.

In order for the budget referendum section of the charter to change, Berlin would have to have to resurrect a charter revision commission, which would make a recommendation to the town council.

The council, then, would put up a charter revision package to the voters sometime in the future.

For all Town of Berlin budget information, click on this link.

For the complete Berlin budget referendum results, click on this link.

For the Berlin Town Charter and its budget vote provision, click on this link and scroll to Pages 25 and 26.

From April 30: 'Berlin Budget Fails At The Polls Tuesday'