Portland voters approve $109 million school bond; town sets mill rate and splits state aid

Portland voters approved a $109 million school bonding package and town leaders said they have set the property tax mill rate and allocated recent state aid to both the schools and tax relief.

First Selectman Mike Pelton said the town received a state allocation of about $527,000 plus an additional $52,000 designated for Pequot funds and that officials decided to allocate $200,000 of the money to the Board of Education and apply roughly $380,000 toward reducing taxes. "We decided that we would take 200,000 of that money and provide it to the Board of Education. And the balance of that about 380, we are applying toward reducing the taxes in town," Pelton said. He also said the mill rate will be 36.36, up from 35.3, a change he described as a roughly 3% increase.

Dr. Charles Britton, superintendent of schools, and Pelton both framed the bonding vote as a community decision that gives the town bandwidth to manage the multi‑year construction effort. Pelton said residents approved the budget and related school project by a 6–1 vote on May 11. "We asked the town residents to say yes to a $109 million project that we've been talking about for years," he said, adding that the large margin of support will help the committee shepherd the work.

Officials said the town expects significant state support for the school project; speakers referenced a state contribution of about $66 million for the school building work. Pelton and Britton emphasized that the building committee will begin overseeing design, contracting and community engagement and that the project will require multi‑year oversight. "This number of people support this, I think we're going to get some grace," Britton said, adding that the board will be transparent about setbacks and progress.

The committee will recruit residents with relevant skills to help guide the work. The officials said new and renovated schools are expected to follow a multi‑year timeline; they described a five‑year planning and construction horizon but gave no firm construction start or completion dates.

Actions recorded in the episode: residents approved the referenced bonding package and the budget in separate votes described on the podcast; Pelton said the budget and bond measures each passed with a 6–1 tally. The town’s allocation of recent state aid and the mill‑rate decision were explained on the podcast but no formal town council vote on the allocation was reported in the episode.

Next steps: formation of the school building committee to manage design and oversight and continued public engagement as the town progresses into project planning.