Residents in the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme go to the polls today to vote on the District 18 Board of Education’s proposed budget of $31,741,789 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. Voting will take place at Cross Lane Firehouse for Old Lyme residents and Hamburg Firehouse for Lyme residents. Both polling stations will be open between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
The proposed budget reflects a 2.36 percent increase over the current budget with just over three-quarters of a percentage point of the increase made up of debt service on the high school renovation. The remainder of the increase is accounted for by changes in programs and operations through out the district.
The budget is split between the two towns according to enrollment with Old Lyme being responsible for 79 percent of the total while Lyme pays for the remaining 21 percent.
The individual town results will be announced at the respective polling stations shortly after 8 p.m. and published on LymeLine within minutes of their announcement. The final result is determined by the combined tallies from both towns.
For more information on the budget, click to read the Region 18 Budget Book online.