Area towns pass municipal budgets

REGION 7 — In addition to the machine vote referendum on the Region 7 Board of Education budget, three of the four towns that make up the district also held votes on their 2010-11 town budgets Tuesday, May 4.

Barkhamsted voters approved a $10,163,496 overall town budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, a 0.61-percent decrease over current spending levels.

The budget was passed by a voice vote at Barkhamsted’s annual town meeting in Barkhamsted Elementary School Tuesday night, Town Clerk Maria Mullady told The Journal Wednesday.

Colebrook voters also approved their proposed municipal budget. Residents there voted 206-159 in favor of the proposed $5,468,557 budget for 2010-11 fiscal year, a 3.8-percent increase over the town’s current budget.

Colebrook’s ballot included an advisory question: “Do you favor higher taxes to provide more funding for the Colebrook Consolidated School?� Town Clerk Debra McKeon said residents voted 137 “yes� and 227 “no.�

In New Hartford, voters approved a $21,201,877 town budget, which represents an increase of 0.8-percent above the current year’s spending plan.

Although Norfolk residents cast their ballots to approve the Region 7 budget during Tuesday’s districtwide machine vote referendum, they did not vote on a proposed 2010-11 budget for the town.

Town Clerk Linda Perkins said Norfolk will hold its annual town meeting to vote on the next year’s fiscal budget proposal May 10.

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