FARMINGTON – The town could potentially find itself cut back and cleaned out if the Palesky tax-cap proposal is approved in early November.

In a Budget Committee meeting Wednesday night, administrators from the Police Department, Fire Department, parks and recreation, code enforcement and public works voiced their concerns over the potential chaos the tax-cap proposal could produce.

Town Manager Dick Davis was also on hand, and urged committee members to learn about the situation and spread the word.

The code enforcement officer, Steve Kaiser, warned Budget Committee members that if the proposal passes, not only will the town lose some of his services, but it will be forced to charge user fees for building permits.

“It’s going to be very hard to keep good people with these cuts,” said Kaiser.

In addition to the added fees, the town would also be forced to contract out for certain positions within the Code Enforcement Department.

Police Chief Richard Caton also gave the committee his worst-case-scenario budget. According to Caton, if the Police Department budget was cut 50 percent, he would not only lose significant members of his staff, but he’d be forced to consider doing away with the department completely.

“There will be minimum traffic and parking enforcement, which could lead to an increase in accidents,” said Caton.

Fingerprinting, animal control, departmental Internet usage, cell phones, downtown patrol and essential training are among the things that could potentially be cut from the department as well.

Caton stressed the importance of safety within the community and said that if the proposal passes, the town could be very hectic and in disarray.

Fire Chief Terry Bell mentioned the potential elimination of his job if the tax cap is approved. Bell also told the committee that the Farmington Falls station would be closed, and the town’s fire prevention program would have to be cut.

“Not only would the station go unmanned, but no one would be there to answer the phones,” said Bell.

Parks and Recreation Director Steve Shible told the board of the potential loss of community-oriented activities come November.

“It would be an assassination of the character of the community that has developed over time,” said Shible

In addition to the elimination of small programs like indoor soccer, track, the teen center and skating rink, certain luxuries like night lighting for the tennis and basketball courts and field maintenance would be lost.

Public Works Director Mitch Boulette said the town would be greatly affected if his crew is cut in half. Boulette also claimed that it currently takes him and his crew nearly three and a half hours to plow snow in town, but with cutbacks the job would now take upwards of seven hours to complete.

While most considered the upcoming vote a black cloud lingering over their heads, all agreed that people need to be informed of the situation the tax cap could bring.