SUMNER – Residents proposed more than $100,000 in cuts to Sumner’s budget at a public hearing Wednesday. Selectmen held the hearing to discuss the possible effects of the statewide Palesky tax-cap proposal.

“What we want to do tonight is listen to you to see where you think we should cut the budget if this Proposition 1 does indeed go through,” Selectman Tom Standard said. “We aren’t particularly interested in telling you how you should vote.”

Town Clerk Susan Runes has calculated that the town will need to cut $132,000 from its $992,373 budget in order to keep the town’s tax rate at 1 percent. Currently, the town pays almost $475,000 to the school district and more than $30,000 in county tax. That leaves about $488,000 from which to cut.

Before looking at the budget, residents asked about the town’s general funds. Runes said that the town generally has $100,000 to $120,000 in reserve after taxes come in.

Resident Stuart Cooper summed up the feelings of the 12 residents in attendance. “If you don’t have the money, you cut it,” he said.

Reviewing each item on the town’s budget, residents suggested cutting street lights and signs, social services and recreation completely. Fire Chief Robert Stuart suggested cutting $4,500 of the Fire Department’s $14,500 budget. Payments into the town’s firetruck and salt storage shed funds were also cut.

Residents proposed cutting nearly half of the town’s budget for winter roads, although Selectman Clifford McNeil cautioned that snow may reach depths of 6 or 8 inches before roads were plowed. There were then calls to cut the budget for summer roads in half. Selectmen noted that the remaining part of the roads budget was state funds that could be used only for improvement, not repair.

Road Commissioner James Keach explained that he can use those state funds to rebuild a road, but not to fix a pothole.

After each item on the town’s budget had been addressed, Superintendent of Schools Richard Colpitts told the group that they could tentatively assume a $114,000 cut in their share of the school budget.

“We haven’t a clue what’s going to happen,” he said, “but if you want to take a reasonable and logical approach, let’s just assume that the school will take a similar share (of taxes) to what it’s currently receiving, and we would have to make do somehow.”

Colpitts noted after the hearing that he spoke solely based on his own observations and not on behalf of the school board.