2011-12 Budget Passes in Second Referendum

The second 2011-12 budget referendum passed Saturday, May 28, with a resounding 44.9 percent of registered voters (4,433 of 9,876) making to the polls.

The municipal budget ($19,164,000) passed by 578 votes, 2,504 to 1,926, and the education budget ($36,150,000) passed by 107 votes, 2,270 to 2,163.

At District I, Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES), both questions failed, with question one (the municipal budget) failing 759 to 698 and question two (education budget) failing 825 to 630.

Both questions passed at District II, Brookfield High School (BHS) — municipal: 1,589 to 1,070 (519 vote difference) and education: 1,443 to 1,220 (difference of 223) — putting both questions ahead, but giving the education budget a narrow margin of only 28 votes.

Absentee ballots ultimately tipped the scale, with the municipal budget passing easily 217 to 97 (120 votes) and the education budget succeeding 197 to 118, a 79 vote margin.

Though the margin in which the education budget passed is relatively narrow, it is not within the one-half-of-one-percent range that would require a recount. (One-half-of-one-percent of 4,433 is 22.2.)

These numbers are unofficial until certified by the Town Clerk.

Question II: Education