BETHEL — After a narrow defeat in the polls last week, the Board of Finance reduced Tuesday the proposed budget by $542,000, with $300,000 coming from the education budget.
The new plan would now pose an estimated 0.21 percent increase in property taxes, Assistant Comptroller Brad Heering said.
The proposal voters rejected at the April 21 referendum called for an approximate 1.1 percent tax increase.
The schools’ $43.3 million request failed by two votes while the town’s $27.6 million plan failed by 29 votes.
“When you have both failing, we knew we had to do something,” Board of Finance Chairman Bruce Cornwell said. ”We misread the taxpayers. Now we hope that we read them correctly this time.”
The now-$70.3 million plan faces a special town meeting Monday evening, when voters also will set a date for the new referendum.