East Lyme residents approve 2016-17 budget at referendum
East Lyme — Residents approved the town's 2016-17 budget of $69.2 million — a 3.1 percent increase over the current spending plan — at a referendum Thursday.
The vote was 502 to 307, according to First Selectman Mark Nickerson.
The 2016-17 budget comprises $45,484,605 for education, a 3.3 percent increase, and $23,759,421 for the town, a 2.8 percent increase over this year's spending plans.
The Board of Finance had projected at a public hearing last month a tax rate increase of 0.59 mill based on the proposed budget.
But the town is facing a shortfall in revenue from the state, as the state revised its budget after the town already had approved its own spending plan.
The Board of Finance will meet next Wednesday to set the tax rate and is expected to discuss then how to reconcile for the loss in state funding.
Options would include raising the tax rate, looking for savings in the budgets, tapping into the town's reserves, or a combination of those options, according to town officials.
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