Today, Tuesday, May 5, the Regional District 18 Board of Education is holding a referendum on its budget request for the fiscal year July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016.

Voting will be held from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Cross Lane Fire House for Old Lyme residents and the Hamburg Fire House for Lyme residents.

The result will be published on LymeLine.com within minutes of its announcement.

In February, the school board voted to present a $32,547,409 budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which represents a 1.83 percent increase over the current 2014-15 budget.  In the cover letter to the budget, Superintendent Ian Neviaser and Board of Education Chairman Jim Witkins state, “The 2015-16 budget represents a strong commitment to the development of our young people in the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme balanced with a fiscal responsibility to the local taxpayer.”

They continue,”Areas [in the budget] showing an increase include debt service, employee contractual obligations, special education and transportation.”  Areas in the budget they identify as decreases include, ” … the operations budget as a result of declining enrollment, reductions in program expenses, reductions in support and administrative services, and savings in facilities and technology operations.”