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Towns given permission to delay budget process as crowd sizes limited

Authorities at both the state and federal levels have issued guidance or direct orders to sharply limit the size of all public gatherings in order to stem the spread of COVID-19. 

Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker says this has affected many municipalities that still practice a town meeting form of government. These restrictions are especially difficult because of the annual budget approval process that requires public hearings and town meetings exceeding the maximum allowed participants.  In order to help towns protect residents through social distancing, the Governor issued an executive order which overrules local charters to allow towns to change the date of their budget meetings. 

The Bethel public hearing on the 2020-2021 budget originally scheduled for March 23rd is cancelled, as is the annual town meeting scheduled for April 6th.  The new dates are an April 27th Public Hearing, followed by the Annual Town Meeting on May 4th.  That would lead to a recommended referendum date of May 12th. 

These dates are tentative and based on the assumption that the spread of the virus will be contained by that time.

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