Tolland Budget Defeated in the Second Round

With 35.29 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot, the $50.75 million municipal budget was defeated at referendum for the second time in as many weeks.

The budget failed Tuesday by 36 votes; had it failed by 20 or less it would have triggered an automatic recount, Democratic Registrar of Voters Michael Wyman said after announcing the results at the Hicks Memorial Municipal Center just past 9 p.m.

Throughout the day several groups made calls to supporters encouraging them to make it to the polls. Although less than the turnout at the , at which time the then $51.04 million budget was defeated by 367 votes, some said they were pleased that nearly as many came to the polls Tuesday.

District two saw the highest turn out with 36.08 percent of those eligible casting a ballot at the senior center. In the first district, 34.44 percent cast a ballot in the Hicks Memorial building's gymnasium.

Broken down by district, more people supported the budget in the first district where 848 voted in favor of the plan versus 683 who opposed it. The opposite was true in the second district where 753 supported the budget versus the 954 who were against it.

Minutes after the results were read, Democratic members of the Town Council went into a conference room to caucus and discuss the referendum results and what to do next.

Most likely, the council will hold a special meeting Wednesday night to make changes to the budget, which currently includes $10.82 million for the town government, $34.9 million for the schools, $4.75 for the debt service and $276,501 for capital projects.

If the budget had been approved it would have required a 29.99 mill tax rate.