Oxford Avoids Recount by One Vote

If you think your vote doesn't count, think again: Oxford's budget officially went into effect this week because of just one vote.

Had one more person voted against the , the town would have been forced to recount the ballots, said Town Clerk Margaret West.

The budget passed Tuesday by just eight votes – 725 to 717. By law, a recount needs to be held if the margin of approval is less than one-half of 1 percent of the total number of people who voted, West said.

So, because 1,442 people voted for the municipal budget, the margin of victory necessary to avoid a recount was 7.21 votes.

First Selectman George Temple said he believes a recount would have been for naught because it would have shown the same results. He has said he believes the municipal budget was so close to clean catch basins on private property in the 55 and older communities Meadowbrook Estates and the Village at Oxford Greens.

The municipal budget, coupled with the $26.54 million school budget and the $734,000 allocation to repair seven roads in town, brings the new tax rate to 24.1 mills, a 3.83 percent tax increase.

Based on the new tax rate, someone with a house assessed at $250,000 will pay $223 more in real estate taxes next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Currently, that homeowner pays $5,802 in real estate taxes and will be expected to pay $6,025 next fiscal year.

________________________________________________________________________________________

 Interested in Oxford’s news, events, sports, community bulletins, blogs and businesses? Sign up for the free Oxford Patch daily newsletter, "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

________________________________________________________________________________________