Wilton voters have approved the municipal budget, which includes about $33.9 million for the town, $86.7 million for schools, $9 million for debt service and nearly $1.3 million for the charter authority.
File photoWILTON — Residents have approved the municipal budget by a roughly 3-to-1 margin.
About 74 percent of the nearly 1,100 voters who participated this year voted in favor of the nearly $130.9 million budget. Turnout was about 9 percent.
The budget includes about $33.9 million for the town, $86.7 million for the schools, $9 million for debt service and nearly $1.3 million for the charter authority.
It also includes a mill rate of about 28.20, which is a little more than 1.2 percent more than the current rate.
“We appreciate the strong voter support for this year's recommended budget and appreciate the increasing voter support for recommended budgets over the last seven years,” First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice said.
Throughout the past decade, budget approval has ranged from 46.5 percent in 2015 to 78 percent in 2021. This year’s approval of 74.2 percent is the second-highest in that time frame. Aside from those three years, budget approval percentages have generally been in the mid-to high 50s or 60s, according to town data.
Turnout has also ranged from the low of 4.22 percent in 2021 to a high of 18 percent in 2016, according to town data.
“In 2015, only 46.5 percent of the voters approved the budget,” Vanderslice said. “Since then, town and school employees, (Schools Superintendent Kevin Smith), myself and the boards of selectmen, finance and education have worked together to reduce costs and develop budgets that are reflective of residents' expectations.”
The selectmen’s request of $33.9 million this budget cycle was unchanged and approved by the Board of Finance in a 5-1 vote.
The schools budget is about $893,000 less than what the Board of Education requested, but about $1 million more than the current year. The finance board approved that budget figure in a 4-2 vote.
At the time, the finance board said the main reason for reducing the schools’ allocation was to lower the mill rate increase. The mill rate would have increased by a little more than 1.9 percent if the schools budget was passed at the Board of Education’s asking amount.
Voters also approved the six bonding items, including $16.4 million for the new police headquarters.
The other bonding items were $1.1 million for road work, about $760,000 for the bridge replacement program, $500,000 for a vacuum truck, $600,000 for school roofs and $100,000 for HVAC work at two of the schools.