OTISFIELD – The Budget Committee presented an $110,100 decrease in the proposed municipal operating budget during a hearing Thursday night.

The total proposed expenditure for 2004-05 is $2,584,543.

If approved by voters as presented at town meeting, the mill rate will drop $1.18 from $17.79 to $16.61. On a home valued at $100,000 it amounts to a savings of $118.

The proposed budget does not include the community’s share of the SAD 17 budget or county taxes because both are undetermined at this time.

The decrease in the mill rate is also based on last year’s valuation. This year’s valuation cannot be set until April 1 and will take into account any new buildings and improvements to buildings over the past year.

There were several big decreases in the budget this year including more than $81,000 in the Fire Department. Last year the town approved $50,000 for salaries for fire personnel. That item will not be funded this year because there is nearly $36,000 in the account, and Fire Chief Garry Dyer said that will cover salary needs this year.

Last year the town made its final payment on a firetruck, which is a decrease of $26,600 in that department budget. The remaining $6,000 is money the community rose to match a grant for the Fire Department last year.

The Budget Committee had no money for the road reserve account. Committee Chairman Mike Thorne explained the account has nearly $100,000 in it, and the committee believes that is enough.

Thorne also noted the community needs to replace the old salt shed and the Budget Committee is recommending that $25,000 for that project come out of the road reserve account. He said that would leave $75,000 in the account.

A new item in the budget is a $5,750 request from the Fire Department. The money is to match a grant for the Fire Department for a thermal imaging camera which costs an estimated $17,000. The cameras are used to find hot spots in fires and assist in locating people in burning buildings.

Voters will have final say on the proposed budget during the annual town meeting Saturday, March 6.