The public records cited in this section, in the order they appear: the minutes, packets and recordings of Andover's own meetings.
The official results, as posted by the town, of the May 5, 2026 referendum. At the first referendum of the cycle the town budget, which carries the elementary school's appropriation, went to the voters as a single question, and it failed, 331 YES to 451 NO. Two advisory questions asked whether the town and school budgets were too high, too low, or about right. The RHAM operating budget passed in Andover, 390 to 379, and the RHAM capital budget failed, 377 to 395; both failed region-wide. After the defeat the town and school budgets were bifurcated for the votes that followed.
The official results, as posted by the town, of the May 26, 2026 referendum, the first after the budgets were bifurcated. The town budget passed, 412 to 367. The elementary school's budget, reduced to a 9.82% increase, failed, 343 YES to 431 NO. The RHAM operating budget passed in Andover, 417 to 360, but failed region-wide; the RHAM capital budget passed, 424 to 360.
The official results, as posted by the town, of the June 16, 2026 referendum. The elementary school's budget, reduced to a 6.0% increase, passed, 420 YES to 317 NO. The RHAM operating budget passed, 479 to 252, and passed region-wide. This is the vote that settled the budget the school operates under in FY 2026-2027.
A single-page letter mailed to every Andover address ("POSTAL PATRON, ANDOVER CT 06232", presorted marketing mail), arriving in the days before the May 5, 2026 budget referendum. Addressed to "Andover Taxpayers," it asks whether taxpayers are subsidizing the elementary school's Pre-K program, cites 67 enrolled students and 14 out-of-town students at the school, reasons from a $6,000 maximum tuition to a combined revenue ceiling of roughly $402,000, and calls on the Board of Education to publish a full accounting of the program's revenues and expenses. It closes: "I will be voting NO at the town budget referendum on May 5th." Signed Jeffrey J Maguire; the foot of the page carries "Paid For by Jeffery J Maguire." Nothing on the letter identifies the writer as First Selectman.
A single-page letter mailed to every Andover address, arriving May 20, 2026, six days before the second budget referendum. It opens with a personal introduction: twenty-five years in Andover, a University of Connecticut accounting degree and CPA, a wife who taught public school for twenty-four years and served on the Andover Board of Education, children through the local schools. It states that in roughly twenty-five town budget referendums he had voted against only one school budget before last year, and that he voted NO last year and intends to again. It sets the FY 2026-2027 proposed budget ($5,013,651) against FY 2023-2024 audited expenses ($3,789,152), a $1,224,499 increase, against a K-6 enrollment rise of 15 students, and derives approximately $81,633 per additional student. It urges a NO vote on May 26. Signed Jeffrey J Maguire, with "Paid For by Jeffery J Maguire" at the foot. Nothing on the letter identifies the writer as First Selectman.
A single-page letter mailed to every Andover address, arriving June 12, 2026, four days before the third budget referendum. It recites the two defeats to date: May 5, a 10.91% increase ($498,190), rejected 451 NO to 331 YES; May 26, 9.82% ($448,190), rejected 432 NO to 343 YES. Of the third proposal, a 6.0% increase ($273,928), it says the reduction "does not appear to be the result of a comprehensive review of expenditures" but "an attempt to identify a percentage increase that voters may accept," and argues that "annual budget increases of 6.0% or more are simply not sustainable over the long term." It notes a resident petition asking the Board of Finance to consider limiting the increase to 3.5%, states "Voting NO is not a vote against education," and urges a NO vote on June 16. Signed Jeffrey J Maguire, with "Paid For by Jeffery J Maguire" at the foot. Nothing on the letter identifies the writer as First Selectman.
