Meriden voters reject budget in Wednesday referendum
MERIDEN — Residents rejected the City Council’s 2018-19 $198-million budget Wednesday, overturning a 4.66 percent tax increase.
Across the board, the message from nearly 6,000 voters was clear.
“I don’t want the taxes to go up,” said Sue Friend. “They are high enough. They are too high.”
Friend was among 6,259 residents who cast a vote at Maloney High School or Lincoln Middle School. It is the first time the budget has gone to referendum since a 1996 City Charter change allowed the process. A total of 5,999 residents, 96 percent, voted to reject the budget and 260 voted to keep the spending plan, according to election moderators. The count included 158 absentee ballots.
Wednesday’s vote was the result of a grassroots effort spearheaded by resident Michael Carabetta, who along with his supporters collected the 2,779 signatures needed to force a referendum. Carabetta and his supporters erupted in cheers after hearing the vote totals at Maloney’s Pub.
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