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Madison Budgets Approved at Referendum

Despite a massive storm that cut power at one of the polling stations in town, all votes were counted and both the town and Board of Education (BOE) budgets for fiscal year 2018-’19 were approved at referendum on May 15.

The town budget was approved by 884 “Yes” votes to 658 “No” votes. The BOE budget was approved by 905 “Yes” votes to 643 “No” votes. Voter turnout was low at just below 12 percent.

Together the town and BOE budget is $83,067,202, an increase of $1,181,588 or 1.44 percent from last year’s spending. The town budget is $24,963,491, a decrease in spending of $2,948 or 0.01 percent compared to last year. The largest cost driver on the town side is the operational budget (rather than debt or health insurance), but the increase is still only 0.20 percent.

The BOE budget is $58,103,711, representing a $1,184,506 or 2.08 percent increase in spending. The single largest cost driver for the BOE budget is special education, which will jump by $777,702 or 1.37 percent this year.

The Board of Finance will meet Wednesday, May 16 to set the mill rate.