LYNDON - Collected results from Town Meeting Day shows that a total of 34 towns across the state of Vermont had rejected their school budget proposal.
Although the rejected school budgets have been causing issues, Lyndon's passed school budget also causes some concern.
The school budget for Lyndon's 2014 school year was a proposed $12,086,864 budget. Collected ballots show the voting results were 54 to 44, allowing the budget to pass by only 10 votes.
Back in 2012, the school was asking for a budget of $11.2 million, which was easily passed by voters in a 61 to 30 ratio. Last year, the budget increased by $600,000, putting the 2013 school budget at $11,697,385, which still managed to pass 59 to 37. With the $300,000 dollar increase, the town of Lyndon is alarmed when it comes to the cost of education.
Al Dilley, a retired School Director, comments on the rising cost of education, "It's up. It is up. The cost of education is alarming with the way it's increasing. You can't fault the mandates that they're coming down with, but it costs. The bottom line is it costs."
While school budgets are increasing locally and becoming more of a hot-button issue, statewide opinions feel the same way. Senator Joe Benning, Republican in the House of Representatives for Caledonia County, says, "I think a lot of people are asking questions about the state overall. We have a state budget that is growing, the healthcare and education expenses are growing beyond anybody's ability to maintain or sustain it. I think those two issues are coming to the forefront more and more."
As the issue of increasing school budgets rise, so does another issue. Voter turnout is decreasing. Town Meeting Day, a long-lived tradition is not seeing a huge turnout in the town of Lyndon anymore. Since 2012, voter turnout was at a 516 attendance record, this meeting the attendance has decreased 40%, with only 332 voters.
The results of voter dissatisfaction are at the highest that it has been in over 10 years.