WEST PARIS – Voters at the March town meeting will be presented two municipal budget proposals – one by the selectmen and a second by the budget committee.
Both proposals are down significantly from the proposals submitted last year.
The selectmen are recommending $658,595, down $41,184 from what they recommended last year, and the budget committee is seeking $646,999, down $27,741 from what it recommended last year. Both proposals show major cuts from the amounts requested by department heads and social service organizations, which total $787,681.
Both groups lowered most articles, with the largest cuts coming to about $50,000 from the Fire Department and library requests. They also used $281,100 in revenues and surplus to keep taxes down.
Town officials said that the figures they will consider at town meeting will be municipal budget needs only. They will not include the assessment for SAD 17, or Oxford County taxes. After those figures become available and are added, it is estimated that the final budget figure will be about $1.3 million, or about equal to the 2004 budget.
The precise school and county figures will not be available until later this spring because the county and school district operate on a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30, while the town is on a calendar year from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.
The town’s annual town meeting is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, in the gymnasium at the Agnes Gray School.
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