HARTFORD — Voters approved the school district’s $51 million budget, as well as a $21 million bond for facilities repairs in Australian ballot voting Monday.

The budget passed 728-622, or about 54% to 46%.

The bond passed more narrowly, 712-634, or about 53% to 47%.

This week’s vote marked the conclusion of a tumultuous and contentious budget process, as the School Board, administrators and teachers union grappled with how to reduce spending without inflicting program and personnel cuts on schools.

Monday was the last possible day that the district could hold elections under a Vermont law, H.850, passed in February. The law allowed schools to delay their annual budget vote in order to reduce budget proposals in the face of rising school spending that threatened to overwhelm the state’s education fund.

Hartford’s school tax increases were initially projected to approach a 30% increase over last year. The School Board rescinded its original proposed budget on Feb. 19 and instructed Superintendent Tom DeBalsi to reduce the budget spending so that property tax increases for Hartford residents would not exceed 18.5%.

The revised budget that voters approved Monday eliminates four sports programs, eight coaching positions, and 22 teacher and staff positions, 18 of which are vacant due to a lack of qualified applicants.

“The board put a lot of care and thought into the budget,” Hartford resident Jason Hall, 47, said outside the polling place on Monday.

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Hall said that he voted in favor of both the school budget and the bond measure.

“Schools are absolutely one of the most important things that drive our community,” said Hall, who has two children in the district, one in preschool and one in second grade.

Eirene Mavodones, 53, also has two children in the district, one in middle school and one in high school. She said that “reading about the possible cuts was frightening.”

“I’m all for supporting the school,” she added, saying that she had voted yes on both school spending measures.

Meanwhile, Hartford resident Mary Lou Scelza, 67, said she had voted no on both the school budget and the bond.

“This is the first time in my whole life I have ever voted no” on a school budget, she said.

“They are out of their minds,” asking for so much money, she said. “They don’t seem to listen, so how else are you going to make them listen?”

Although most voters expressed general support for the school district, some questioned the level of spending and the need for the facilities bond, which isn’t earmarked for a specific project.

“I’m not against the school, I’m against the way they are spending,” Hartford resident Robert Bettis, 81, said, who was a no vote on both school spending articles. “The justification is not there.”

With the meeting not held at its traditional time, voter turnout was down 23% compared to last year.

“It’s been fairly quiet,” Hartford Town Clerk Lisa O’Neil said at midday Monday. “Usually we have a line in the morning, but we didn’t today.”

Just 266 voters had cast ballots by 1 p.m.

Polling place traffic picked up in the after-work hours, with a fairly steady flow of voters making their way into the Hartford High School gymnasium.

In total, 1,355 ballots were cast Monday, down from last year’s total of 1,699. Hartford has 9,500 registered voters.

The only ballot article voters rejected Monday was a 1% local option tax, which failed by more than 200 votes. The question was moot since voters previously rejected the local option tax in municipal voting on Town Meeting Day in March. Since it was a change to the charter, both the town and school district were required to approve the change.

A final article on Monday’s ballot passed 959-370, with voters approving some procedural changes to the Town School District Charter. The article increases the terms of the town and school moderators from one to three years, designates the town manager and the delinquent tax collector, adds a Warrant Information Night as a possible Town Meeting event and adds social media to the list of ways that warnings are announced.

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.