Coventry to hold special meeting on proposed budget

Connor Linskey, The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
·2 min read

Jun. 18—COVENTRY — The Town of Coventry will hold a special meeting on the Proposed Budget on Monday The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Annex, which is located behind Coventry Town Hall. At the meeting, Coventry Finance Director/ Treasurer Amanda Backhaus as well as a representative from the board of education will present the proposed bud- get for Fiscal Year 2022-23. Members of the public will be able to provide feedback on the budget at the meeting.

Following Monday's spe- cial meeting, a budget refer — endum will be held Tuesday, June 28.

The vote will be held at the town's firehouses. Voters in District 1 will vote at the firehouse at 1755 Main Street and voters in District 2 will vote at the firehouse at 3427 Main Street.

The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Fiscal Year 2022-23 runs from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023. The proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year was approved by the town council at their special meeting on June 13.

The proposed budget totals $43,703,945, which is a

3.02% increase from Fiscal Year 2021-22. The general government, Board of Education, debt service, capital and ambu lance fund transfers have all increased from the current fiscal year.

The mill rate proposed for the upcoming fiscal year is 31.15, which is the same as the current fiscal year.

The budget vote on June 20 comes after the budget failed to pass at two previous budget votes.

At the referendum on May 3, 772 voters voted to adopt the budget and 1,110 people voted against its adoption.

At the referendum on June 7, 977 people voted to adopt the budget and 1,142 voted against it.

Lisa Thomas, chair of the Coventry Town Council, noted that voters sent a message with the past two referendums.

"I think people were sending a message about how they're feeling in the current economy," she said. "Our local budget is really the one place where they have the most direct control over spending and I think voting was a reflection of that. And these are challenges that we're all facing and we're all trying to figure out how to move through them until we are in a better economic situation." Coventry Town Manager John Elsesser said that the town is still facing financial challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This budget needs to be

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