Killingly general government, education budgets fail. What comes next?

The Killingly general government and education budgets for fiscal 2025 failed to pass at the budget vote Tuesday.

The general government budget in the amount of $24,491,738 failed to pass, with 294 “Yes” votes and 381 “No” votes. 358 people voted that the general government budget was too high, while 13 voted that it was too low.

The education budget in the amount of $47,508,839 failed to pass, with 298 “Yes” votes and 375 “No” votes. 351 people voted that the education budget was too high and 27 voted that it was too low.

This was the second year in a row that the general government budget failed to pass at the first budget vote. Last year, the initial general government budget was rejected by a vote of 458-422 before it passed at the second vote by a 335-253 tally.

Next steps

The Killingly Town Council will meet next week to review the general government and education budgets. Killingly Town Manager Mary Calorio said Wednesday morning that the time of that meeting had yet to be scheduled.

Then, Killingly will hold a reconvened Town Meeting at 7 p.m. on June 3 in the Killingly High School auditorium, 226 Putnam Pike, Dayville. Members of the public will only be able to make comments on the budget there.

The reconvened Town Meeting will be adjourned to a town-wide referendum on the budget on June 11. Voters in districts 1, 3 and 5 will vote at the Board of Education central office cafeteria, 79 Westfield Ave., Danielson. Voters in districts 2 and 4 will vote at Killingly High School. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Killingly general government, education budgets fail at the ballot box