Budget vote is today

WINSTED >> Residents will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed 2017-18 budget for the community Saturday, during the annual budget referendum.

The polls will be open at the Pearson School from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The proposed financial plan — which is available for public perusal through the Board of Selectmen page on the town website — stands at $33.44 million.

The tax rate will remain level at 33.54 mills under the proposal, Town Manager Robert Geiger said in March, as he presented the plan to the Board of Selectmen.

Geiger cited a $1.4 million allocation for road repairs as a ma-

jor feature of the proposal, to be paid for, in part, by approximately $635,000 drawn from the town fund balance. An increase in revenue, garnered through a 2.8 percent rise in the grand list, will also be used for this purpose.

The road funding is included, according to his proposal, in a $1.96 million capital budget, which also includes funding for a salt shed, excavator, police vehicles, and additional funding for the Sucker Brook Road Bridge project.

The general fund balance stood at $6.17 million at the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report posted on the town website, or 18.7 percent of expenditures.

The minimum amount of funding for the school district allowable under state law, known as the minimum budget requirement, of $19.96 million is included in the financial plan, along with $330,000 in a “Town Support for Education” line item.

To guard against a potential decrease in state aid, Geiger said, a $400,000 negative allocation has also been included in the financial plan.