Budget Referendum Set for May 16

Voters will head to the polls Thursday, May 16, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., to vote in Bethel's 2013-14 budget referendum.

The $67,083,781 budget represents a but includes items both town and education officials have considered essential, including another ROTC instructor at the high school, funding for non-governmental organizations and $1.2 million for the third year of First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker's four-year road plan.

About 131 Bethel residents voted to approve the budget in a Monday night meeting at Bethel High School.

"I think it's a very fair budget," said Knickerbocker. "Every department and every agency within the town has done their best to hold down costs. The biggest drivers are things outside our. We've negotiated hard and we have found some savings that we're passing on to the taxpayers."

Knickerbocker said only a few motions had "even a single nay vote." He said he respects opposing views on the budget.

"They feel it's their duty to be a counterbalance to the spending," he said.

The and The full budget is posted on the town of Bethel's website.