l****z 发帖数: 29846 | 1 Newtown budget with extra school security rejected
April 24, 2013
, Associated Press
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Residents have rejected a budget that included money
for extra school security in the wake of the December school shootings, with
town leaders suggesting the spending and required tax increases were a hard
sell.
Voters on Tuesday turned down the $72 million school budget by 482 votes and
rejected the $39 million town government budget by 62 votes. Nearly 4,500
residents voted on the plans, which would have represented an increase of
more than 5 percent next fiscal year.
First Selectwoman Patricia Llodra said the killings of 20 children and six
educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School had an impact on the vote, the
first since the massacre.
"We're very fragile as a community," she said. "We've lost some of our
confidence."
Officials had put an extra $770,000 in the school and town budgets to hire
extra police officers and unarmed security guards in each of Newtown's
public and private schools. The plan was spurred by the Dec. 14 shootings.
Jeff Capeci, chairman of the Legislative Council, said the higher school
budget also would have expanded half-day kindergarten to full-day and
allowed for the hiring of a new high school administrator and for capital
spending and technology.
"I thought it was an incredibly high increase for this economy," Capeci said
. "At the end of the day, Newtown voters thought it was too much of an
increase."
Llodra called the spending increases substantial.
"It's just beyond the ability of our community to grapple with," she said.
In contrast, the current budget is up by a fraction of 1 percent over the
previous year.
Newtown's budget troubles are relatively recent and are due to the recession
, the weak recovery that followed and an aging population on a fixed income,
Llodra said. A revised budget will be presented for a second vote. | p**j 发帖数: 7063 | 2 unarmed security guards?雇人用肉身挡子弹?
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【在 l****z 的大作中提到】 : Newtown budget with extra school security rejected : April 24, 2013 : , Associated Press : NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Residents have rejected a budget that included money : for extra school security in the wake of the December school shootings, with : town leaders suggesting the spending and required tax increases were a hard : sell. : Voters on Tuesday turned down the $72 million school budget by 482 votes and : rejected the $39 million town government budget by 62 votes. Nearly 4,500 : residents voted on the plans, which would have represented an increase of
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