Politics & Government

Six Percent of Voters Come Out For Budget Referendum

Budget voted down by 28 votes; Romney rolls with 16 percent of Republicans voting.

 

There really didn't need to be five voting polls open today as just six percent of registered voters came out to vote on the budget.

The final tally was 457 voters against the referendum and 429 in favor of the referendum.

Find out what's happening in Berlinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In the Republican Primary Mitt Romney got 341 votes, Newt Gingrinch 72, Ron Paul 56, Rick Santorum 23 and uncommitted 16.

"We had seven percent last year for the budget vote and six percent this year so it's pretty disappointing," Berlin Democratic Registrar of Voters Chuck Warner said Tuesday night.

Find out what's happening in Berlinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mayor Adam Salina said that while the budget was voted down, he did not anticipate any major changes to the budget before it will be approved.

"When a budget is voted down by a large margin you go back and listen to the comments from the public hearing," Salina said. "We had a sleepy public hearing with very few comments, if any, that were against the current budget. You take it all into account but when you have six percent of the voters coming out to vote, it's tough."

Salina said the Town Council will take the next step and take one more look at the budget before adopting it.

"It was defeated by such a small margin and there was such a low turnout, I can’t say that anything major needs to be done to the budget," Salina said. "I’m pleased with the budget. The increase of .69 is the smallest in three years. I am pleased with the work that Bill Rasmussen did as budget chair and also pleased with the department heads from the town. I think they did a great job."

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here