LIVERMORE FALLS – Despite their best efforts, selectmen were unable to lower the 2003-04 tax rate during a special session Thursday night.

Instead, they set the rate at $24.45 per thousand, higher than last year’s rate of $24.

“This is where we pay for what we voted at town meeting,” said Selectman Clayton Putnam.

“It’s what the people wanted. I proposed things that would have reduced it by one and a half mills, but nobody wanted it,” Putnam noted, recalling his futile efforts at the annual town meeting to curb spending.

On Putnam’s motion, the board agreed to have Assessor Bill VanTuinen lower the anticipated municipal revenue sharing figure, fearing that the state would not come up with the full amount projected on its Web site.

“We’ve been over-protecting our revenues for three years,” he told his the board. “We’re walking on very thin ice.”

Getting the tax bills out may prove to be a problem this year as it is anticipated that Clerk Dawn Young may be out for surgery, anywhere from several days to several weeks.

Selectman Bernal Lake suggested temporary help be hired, noting that perhaps former town clerk/treasurer and manager Maxine Bailey would be willing to help out.

VanTuinen will send the commitment papers for the selectman to sign, he said, to be dated Sept. 8. This will allow those wishing to pay the full amount and receive a 1 percent discount until Oct. 8 to do so even though the bills may not be out until the week of Oct. 15.

The assessor said he will work with the remaining office staff to get the bills in the mail as soon as possible.

Town Manager Alan Gove, who is still on personal leave, is the town’s tax collector but Chairman Bill Demaray said he had been assured by legal counsel that Gove’s absence, should it continue once taxes are committed, would not be a problem

Selectwoman Doreen Maheux asked for an executive session at the close of the special meeting, stating it was for a legal matter.