Politics & Government

May Referendum Taking Shape

Residents will be asked to vote on the town budget and the police station will be in the referendum.


The Town Council rescinded the middle school renovation project from the May ballot at the Superintendent’s request Wednesday but residents still get to vote on a building project this referendum.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Graner informed the Town Council on April 12 that the state would likely not approve of the $45M project due to its cost. Graner said the renovations and the wing would cost as much as building a new school, and that the state would not approve the expenditure and/or offer the same reimbursement rate. Graner wrote a letter to the Town Council saying as much and the group enthusiastically took the measure off the ballot this time around.

Graner said he plans to go back to the drawing board and return with more cost effective alternatives.

But the ballot will not be without a building project on it. This May residents will be asked to vote on the proposed new police station, which will be built where the old firehouse was in Ledyard Center. The $6,750,000 project will address and remediate some problems in the Town Hall campus while also adding a two-story police station and parking lot on that site.

Voters will also be asked to vote on the $50,136,531 Town Budget for fiscal year 2013-14, which is comprised of $20,442,567 general government spending plan and a $29,693,964 school budget. Next year’s proposed budget is 1.91 percent or $937,829 more than this year’s spending plan. The lion’s share of increases came from rising health insurance costs and contractual salary increases.

The revenue is not yet set but according to the latest information, Finance Committee Chair Mike France says we may see the tax rate increase by one percent, or .28 mils. One mil is equal to $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.

There are plenty of opportunities to learn more all about these items. There’s an open house of the police station Thursday, May 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and again on Sunday, May 5 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. After that, there’s a special Town Meeting on May 7 to talk about the proposed new police station building project. Then, on May 20, there’s the annual Town Meeting on the budget and police station at 7 p.m. in the Ledyard High School auditorium, which will adjourn to a referendum on May 21.


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