All Polling Places Are Open Today From 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. For Budget Referendum

All six of the polling places will be open Tuesday beginning at 6 a.m. and will remain open until 8 p.m. as residents will have the opportunity for a simple "Yes" or "No" vote on the annual town budget.

The Berlin Town Council voted 3-2 along party lines to move forward a budget of $76,784,480 to the Public Hearing April 9 at McGee School and then to a town-wide referendum on April 30. With this budget, the mill rate will climb from 25.19 to 28.91 but Mayor Adam Salina said a closer look at the mill rate increase is needed.

"In talking to our Assessor, if we just kept everything the same and didn't add anything to the budget, the mill rate would have had to go up to 27.94 with the loss of tax revenue because of revaluation this year," Salina said at the Town Council meeting Tuesday night. "So the increase is really from 27.94 to 28.91 or an increase in the mill rate of .97."