Tolland Budget Passes Easily

On Tuesday, the residents of Tolland approved the proposed $51,844,725 budget for 2013-14.

The budget, a .94 percent increase, was approved by a margin of 1,269-604. The voter turnout was 19.89 percent.

Board of Education Chairman Andy Powell said that he’s happy that the budget passed and that it doesn’t have to go through again, but that at the same time, he’s not happy because he doesn’t feel the education department can do what it wants to with what it was given.

“But, we’ll do what the town says we can do,” he said. “It is what it is. We’re going to stick to the picture we painted.”

According to Powell, some small adjustments will be made and things will be finalized, but that the goal is to stick to the plan that the board had.

Powell noted that the board did not pass a 1 percent budget, but just showed what a 1 percent budget would look like.

“We passed - what I feel was a number that was too low - over to the Town Manager,” he said. “But the reality is what came forward. It’s great that it passed, but how can you continue to have a growing and thriving education program in town when you’re getting an increase that is less than inflation?”

Powell was disappointed with the turnout, saying how it stuns him that 85 percent of the population shows up for a national election, yet so few show up for an election that most directly affects the community.