Berlin Budget Fails At The Polls Tuesday

BERLIN,CT — Voters Tuesday night narrowly said "yes" to the town's general government spending plan for 2025-26, but they narrowly rejected Berlin's school budget.

As a result, Berlin voters will have to go back to the polls again and vote on both general government and education again, town officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

While Berlin had questions on the two budgets, in reality, voters were deciding a $106.62 million combined town/education budget.

According to advisory questions, those voting "no" for either spending plan said the budgets were, simply, too high.

The Berlin Board of Finance Wednesday night, was expected to tweak the numbers for another referendum.

According to the final results, 359 voters said "yes" to Berlin's general government budget, with 347 voting "no."

Regarding school spending, 337 voters said "yes" and 368 said "no," a 31-vote margin of defeat for the budget.

Berlin Town Manager Ryan Curley said the town consulted with its corporation counsel to help determine the budget status of a mixed referendum.

Curley said the next vote likely will come in late May.

"Berlin will need to have both questions on the ballot again for the May 27 referendum," wrote Curley to Patch.

The fact that Berlin splits the budget between town and education spending "doesn’t change the fact that there is one town budget," wrote Curley, citing a legal opinion.

"Since the BOE portion of the budget was rejected, no budget was approved," wrote Berlin's legal counsel.

As a result, the Berlin Board of Finance, which was supposed to finalize spending and a tax rate at a special meeting on Wednesday, April 30, now "should proceed to propose a new budget to the (town council) within 10 days."

The numbers

At issue Tuesday night was:

• A $106.62 million combined town/education budget, which was $3.8 million or 3.68 percent larger than current spending.

• A $54.6 million education budget, which was $2.1 million or 4 percent larger.

• A $52 million town general government budget, which was $1.68 million or 3.34 percent larger.

As for the tax impact, the spending plan would have required a 30.68 mill rate, which is 0.47 mills larger than the tax rate paid last year.

For a home assessed at $350,000, the new mill rate translates into a $164.50 increase on their tax bill.

For more information on the Town of Berlin's budget situation, click on this link.