On a 5-3 vote, the Mansfield Town Council approved a $45 million 2012-13 budget Monday, taking on the .
Under the approved budget, taxes would increase by 1.8 percent, or $81, and require a .48 mill increase, bringing the mill rate to 27.16.
For the owner of an average single-family house - valued at $169,080 - the tax bill would be $4,615 for the year, Town Clerk Mary Stanton said Tuesday.
Under the approved spending plan, the Mansfield Board of Education (MBOE) remained level-funded at $20,588,160.
The Town’s contribution to the Region #19 Board of Education came in at $9,503,550, a decrease of $225,690, or approximately 2.3 percent over the current year.
A proposed amendment to eliminate $100,000 from the Town's surplus health insurance fund was voted down 6-2 Monday.
Mansfield’s budget will be voted on at a Town Meeting on Tuesday, May 8, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the .
A will be held on Monday, April 30 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Audrey P. Beck Municipal Building.
- To review budget documents in detail, visit the Town of Mansfield's Web site.
The members of the Town Council believe that they are our guardians so much so that they have a right to spend how much and whatever money they can wrest out of the taxpayers pocketbooks because they represent an all-knowing majority. This is NOT a very just or moral position. A majority may be many things but it is not automatically right just because it's a majority. Representing a majority does not grant one a moral claim to the money or labor of their neighbors. The Town Council is obligated spend money only on those necessities that ALL townspeople regularly use, not pet projects or interests. Things like the Storrs Project are most likely a waste of money and a gamble. If it was not, private developers would see fit to do it themselves, unless of course they want to sucker some money out of the town, which may also be the case. As the mill rate and my taxes go up many can barely afford to live here, but I know that the Town Council is looking out for all of us and we must remember this as we watch E.O. students skipping classes across the street in the new Storrs Center hangout. When the time comes that the Center becomes an utter mess, money pit, eyesore and must be demolished, remember that it will be the same politicians who will take credit for tearing down this gigantic fiasco.