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ProspectCT News

November 4, 2008

    Prospect voters took to the polls today (See Results) to cast their votes in national and local elections. While Prospect voted convincingly for the McCain/Palin candidacy, Obama prevailed nationally. Incumbents Rosa Delauro, Joan Hartley, and Vickie Nardello won easily. On the Constitutional question, Prospect voted yes, while the state overall defeated the measure.

October 7, 2008

    Region 16 shool district voters today approved the purchase of land for a new school 1428-753. Prospect voters overwhelmingly  approved the purchase 1158-451, overcoming a 301-270 No tally in Beacon Falls. This will allow Regional School District 16 to purchase 47.2 acres of land on Rt 69 adjoining the new soccer fields (Caplan Park) for $1.59 million. The property wraps around and has frontage at 54 Talmadge Hill Rd. The land was previously used for paintball. The district will issue bonds to cover the purchase. It will be several years before a new school construction project will be ready and presented to the voters for the construction of the new school. The purchase locks in a very attractive piece of property for the school, with flexible options to deal with the excess acreage. The location next to Caplan Park enhances the functionality of the school and opens up new town recreational possibilities.

June 23, 2008

    Voters today approved the 2008-2009 Town Budget, which comprises all town spending except the schools, which is set by a separate Regional School District 16 budget. The vote was 616 Yes and 488 No. Turnout was quite heavy for a municipal budget, with 20% of registered voters turning out.

June 10, 2008

   Voters today approved the 2008-2009 Region 16 School Budget. Both Prospect and Beacon Falls voters approved the budget by 404 votes.

June 4, 2008

   The Region 16 Board of Education met today to revise the 2008-2009 Region 16 School Budget, making reductions totalling  $166,092 to the proposal. The revised $35.94 million proposal represents a 3.73% increase over the 2007-2008 budget. The new budget will be presented at a District meeting at 7 PM, Monday June 9th at Laurel Ledge School in Beacon Falls, with a Budget Referendum Vote on Tuesday June 10th. All Prosepct voting will be at Community school, 6AM - 8 PM. Beacon Falls voters will vote at Laurel Ledge School.

June 2, 2008

    Voter today rejected the 2008-2009 Town Budget, which comprises all town spending except the schools, which is set by a separate Regional School District 16 budget. The vote was 515 No and 513 Yes. The Town council will hold a special meeting Thursday, June 5th at town hall to consider cuts and prepare a new budget for the town.

May 28, 2008

   Voters today rejected the 2008-2009 Region 16 School Budget. Prospect voters approved the budget by 53 votes, while Beacon Falls voted no by a margin of 120 votes. The vote totals are listed below. After review and possible review by the Region 16 Board of Education, a new budget will be presented to voters in 2-4 weeks.

May 15, 2008

   The Region 16 Board of Education met today to revise the 2008-2009 Region 16 School Budget, making reductions totalling  $380,953 to the proposal. The revised $36,107,077 proposal represents a 4.21% increase over the 2007-2008 budget. The new budget will be presented at a District meeting at 7 PM, Tuesday May 27th at Long River Middle School, with a Budget Referendum Vote on Wednesday May 28th at Community school, 6AM - 8 PM.

May 15, 2008

    The Prospect Town Council met to revise the 2008-2009 Town Budget which was rejected by voters, cutting $104,000 from the proposed budget listed in the above link.  This is about $315,000 more than last year, a 4.67% increase. If this budget passes, and also the revised Region 16 School District budget passes ($465,000 additional spending), and adding new revenues and growth in the grand list, this would represent a tax increase of about 0.75 mills, raising the mill rate from 24.5 to 25.25 mills. This represents a tax increase of  $150 on a home assessed at $200,000.
A town meeting will be scheduled at Community School at 7 PM, Thursday, May 22nd, with a referendum vote on Tuesday, June 3, at Community school, 6 AM-8 PM.

May 12, 2008

    Voter today rejected the 2008-2009 Town Budget, which comprises all town spending except the schools, which is set by a separate Regional School District 16 budget. The vote was 475 No and 310 Yes. The Town council will hold a special meeting Wednesday, May 14th at town hall to consider cuts and prepare a new budget for the town.

May 6, 2008

   Voters today rejected the 2008-2009 Region 16 School Budget. Prospect voters approved the budget by 62 votes, while Beacon Falls voted no by a margin of 212 votes. The vote totals are listed below. After review and possible review by the Region 16 Board of Education, a new budget will be presented to voters in 2-4 weeks.

May 5, 2008

The new CODE RED alert system has now been implemented. Sign up by clicking here ==>(www.TownOfProspect.org)

May 1, 2008

A petition drive by voters has changed the vote on the  2008-2009 School Budget from an in-person vote at the District meeting to a machine vote in both Prospect and Beacon Falls. All voting in Prospect will be at Community school, regtardless of you voting district. You can review the proposed 2008-2009 School Budget here. The budget represents $1,838,194 more than this years budget. The mill rate is set in May, after both the Town and the Region 16 school budget is approved. At this time the combined budgets are used to set the mill rate. Each mill of taxes generates approximately $785,000 of tax revenue. The Region 16 School budget budget is currently estimated to require an additional $700,000 from Prospect. A rough estimate for tax increases would estimate $1,100,000 of new town and school spending, offset by $300,000 of grand list growth and new state revenue, requiring approximately one mill tax increase. One mill tax increase corresponds to $150 new taxes on a $150,000 assessed property.

April 23, 2008

The 36.5 Million Regional 16 School Budget will be presented at a District meeting May 5, 2008. The District meeting will be at Laurel Ledge elementary school in Beacon Falls. A paper vote was planned planned to approve or disapprove at this meeting, by paper ballot (See later petition drive May 1). You can review the proposed 2008-2009 School Budget here.

April 17, 2008

The 6.9 Million Town Government budget will be presented at a Town meeting May 1, 2008. You can review the proposed 2008-2009 Town Budget here. The budget represents approximately $400,000 more than this years budget. You can also see the 2008-2009 Revenue Estimates to see where the money comes from. The mill rate is set in May, after the Region 16 school budget is approved. At this time the combined budgets are used to set the mill rate. Each mill of taxes generates approximately $785,000 of tax revenue. The Region 16 School budget budget is currently estimated to require an additional $700,000. A rough estimate for tax increases would estimate $1,100,000 of new town and school spending, offset by $300,000 of grand list growth and new state revenue, requiring approximately one mill tax increase. One mill tax increase corresponds to $150 new taxes on a $150,000 assessed property.

January 1, 2008

The Recycling Schedule for 2008 has been posted here.
Know when and what to recycle.

December 15, 2007

Region 16 School Board has begun negotiations to hire
James C. Augustine as Superintendent of the Region 16 School District.
Dr. Augustine is currently principal of Pomperaug High School,
ranked by Newsweek as one of the best high schools in the nation.
Pending negotiations,  he could be on the job in January.

November 6, 2007

Prospect reelects Mayor Bob by vote of 2033-1273. The full slate of Republican candidates was elected.

See Full Election Results

August 21, 2007

School Bus Routes - View the School bus routes as of 8/22/07

May 15, 2007

The $6.5 Million Town Governement Budget was rejected by Prospect voters by a vote of.497 to 333. Turnout was light, at 14% of registered voters. The proposed 2007-08 budget was $392,608 more than the previous year's budget, and represented approximately 0.5 mill tax increase (Not counting Region 16 school budget increase).

May 8, 2007

Region 16 School Budget was rejected by Prospect and Beacon Falls voters by a vote of.851 to 974. Prospect approved the budget by a vote of 548 to 416, while Beacon Falls rejected the budget 558 to 303.

January 4, 2007

Recycling Schedule posted. Check your street to see the latest pickup dates.

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