COOPER (AP) – Residents of this Washington County town, population 145, have voted to attempt to deorganize and become part of Maine’s unorganized territory.

The tally at a special town meeting Thursday night was 32 in favor of proceeding with deorganization and 21 opposed.

The next step in the process rests with the Legislature. If lawmakers give the green light, Cooper residents would need a two-thirds vote in the November general election. The dissolution of the town would take effect July 1, 2006.

“We got a majority, but it’s not two-thirds, and we will need another 10 to 15 votes,” said First Selectman Jon Reisman, a member of the deorganizing committee.

“There were a number of people who didn’t make this meeting… It’s still going to be a close call,” he predicted.

The latest deorganizing attempt began about a year ago. Advocates of the move say Cooper has a lot of retirees who welcome the lower taxes that would come from being part of the unorganized territory.

The vote by secret ballot was completed within 15 minutes.

Alta Cousins, a lifelong resident, said she voted to stay on the path of deorganization. “It will bring the taxes down,” she said. “We are the elderly, and we need help.”

Leonard Dodge voted to stop the process and stay as a town.

“I’ve got a 4-year-old daughter who will be 5 in May,” he said. “I don’t want her going clear to East Machias for kindergarten. I’d rather have her go to Alexander. And the state will only provide one bus, with all the cutbacks.”

The only other community currently seeking to deorganize is Drew Plantation, in Penobscot county, according to Doreen Sheive, the state’s fiscal administrator for the unorganized territories.

The last town to attempt it was Atkinson, in Piscataquis County. The Legislature denied its request last year. Reisman said he didn’t know how lawmakers would react to Cooper’s effort.

Cooper tried to deorganize in 1997, but the town and the state couldn’t agree on school arrangements.

Located on Route 191 midway between Machias and Calais, Cooper is nearly as old as Maine itself. It was incorporated in 1822, two years after Maine achieved statehood.