Voters approve an $18.5 million school budget, up 5.3%

What happened

At the May 27 district budget meeting, voters approved a FY27 budget of $18,543,979, up $933,891 (5.3%) from this year. The board says the tax increase is 4.99% overall, but it differs by town: Newry +10%, Bethel +6.3%, Greenwood +4.8%, and Woodstock pays 1.4% less.

Why it matters to families

Most of the money comes from local property taxes, so the budget sets how much each town pays. About 91% goes to salaries, benefits and other fixed costs.

The evidence

The finance committee read the total ($18,543,979, +$933,891 or 5.3%) and the town-by-town increases at the meeting. Voters passed the extra local funds article by written ballot, 25 to 0, and the budget then went to the June 9 validation referendum. Evidence comes from auto-generated captions of the Western Hills Access Television recording, not approved minutes.

The source