UPDATED: New London Votes Down 2014 Budgets, Tax Rate

Both the municipal and school budgets for the 2014 fiscal year were shot down by New London voters on Tuesday, along with the tax rate.

Voters were 849 to 589 against the $41,565,314 municipal budget, a 0.78 percent increase over the 2013 fiscal year. The tally was 843 to 593 against the New London Public Schools budget of $40,414,666, a 1.5 percent increase over the 2014 fiscal year. The increase of the mill rate, or tax per $1,000 of assessed value, from 26.6 to 27.5 was rejected in an 859 to 572 vote.

Democratic Registrar of Voters Bill Giesing said 1,389 people cast a ballot in the referendum, which was called after a successful petition effort led by the organization Looking Out For Taxpayers (also known as Lower Our Taxes). The number is exactly 10 percent of the 13,890 registered voters in New London.

The Council unanimously agreed to approve the tax rate, a 3.38 percent increase, in a May 28 vote. Councilors differed on how they thought the revenue should be appropriated, however. Both appropriation ordinances for the municipal and school budgets passed in a trio of 4-3 votes.

Councilors opposed to the budget expressed support for alternate proposals put forth by Councilor Adam Sprecace, who said he thought it would be possible to allocate funds in a way that would avoid layoffs as well as service cuts. Those opposed to the measures were concerned that Sprecace may have overestimated savings due to disparities between his projected savings and those estimated by Finance Director Jeff Smith.

The votes by district for the question on whether to approve or reject the municipal budget:

• District One: 175 against, 130 for
• District Two: 280 against, 183 for
• District Three: 361 against, 262 for
• Absentee: 33 against, 14 for

The votes by district for the question on whether to approve or reject the school budget:

• District One: 176 against, 128 for
• District Two: 289 against, 173 for
• District Three: 347 against, 276 for
• Absentee: 31 against, 16 for

The votes by district for the question on whether to approve or reject the tax rate:

• District One: 180 against, 123 for
• District Two: 291 against, 169 for
• District Three: 355 against, 266 for
• Absentee: 33 against, 14 for

The budgets and tax rate will now be returned to the City Council for revision.

Mayor Daryl Finizio said he was not surprised with the result.

"It is nearly impossible to believe that a majority of voters would ever vote to raise their own taxes. But with such a low turnout, it is hard to read this result as any of kind of mandate," he said. "I will work closely with the City Council to craft a new budget, but I hold firmly to my view that further substantial reductions in the budget are simply not possible."

School officials expressed disappointment in the result of the referendum but said they would begin reviewing budget options.

“School administration and the Board of Education want to work closely with the City Council and the mayor’s office to come up with mutually acceptable options for the coming year,” Superintendent Nicholas A. Fischer said Wednesday.

“I promise that the administration and the board will work closely with the City Council to come up with a budget acceptable to all as long as it does not hurt the educational needs of our students,” Board of Education President Peg Curtin said.

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