Monroe Voters Adopt a Budget in Round Three

Monroe went back to its days of budget battles with the approval process dragging out to three referendums, but voters put a stop to that today when they decided to adopt an $80,042,285 budget by an unofficial vote of 2,149 to 1,847.

The budget has a 30.41 mill rate, which represents a 3.93% increase. The mill rate is used to calculate individual tax bills. There had initially been a request for a 4.24% hike before First Selectman Steve Vavrek whittled it down to 3.93 after two referendum defeats.

The first selectman said he is happy that the budget has passed and the town can now move forward.

"I thought we had a good budget coming out of the gate, unfortunately we had to cut a few things, but the people have spoken," Vavrek said at the Town Clerk's Office after the votes were tallied.

Vavrek thanked all those who voted, adding it was a bipartisan effort across the board to get out the vote.

He said, "The Parents' Council and all the PTOs did a great job getting the word out and communicating throughout the day where the votes were needed, making calls and writing emails. I encourage all parents to get involved with their PTOs."

According to the Registars of Voters, 3,982 of Monroe's 12,615 registered voters or 31.57% participated in Tuesday's referendum, down slightly from the 32.39% who voted on April 23.

The $80,042,285 budget represents a $1,429,661 increase over current spending (1.82%). It has $52,109,919 for education, $19,967,051 in municipal expenditures and $5,731,542 for debt service.

Education spending will increase by $675,180 or 1.31%, municipal spending by $824,877 or 4.31% and debt service by $145,514 or 2.6%.

Vavrek said the main drivers of the increase on the town side of the budget are insurance, pension, road repairs, equipment replacements and police and town hall renovations.

Vavrek said town officials anticipate a $488,090 reduction in state funding, adding funding from the state for the education cost sharing formula is expected to remain flat.

To review the entire budget in depth, follow this link to the town of Monroe's website.