By Rebecca Goldfine,Staff Writer

NORWAY – Towns will pay lower fees next year to the regional recycling center, manager Warren Sessions said Thursday.

The Oxford County Regional Solid Waste board held its annual budget meeting Wednesday night, approving a $251,300 budget for 2006, Sessions said.

“The budget is bigger, but everyone is paying less than before,” he said. This year’s budget is $204,600, with each town paying $3.15 per person.

In the coming year, towns will pay 30 cents less per citizen, bringing the per-capita fees to $2.85.

The reduction to all 19 towns and three townships will total about $40,000. This brings the municipal share of the operating budget to $74,605, Sessions said, which will be divided up based on the towns’ populations.

The payments have dropped because people are recycling greater amounts and the market is steadier, he said.

“People are bringing in more material,” Sessions said. “And prices are staying a lot more even,” for the recyclable material.

Because the center’s revenue has been increasing over the last three years, the recycling station has asked for less money from the towns each year, Sessions said.

The center did have to increase budget lines substantially for fuel.

The budget was approved unanimously by the board members who were present at the Wednesday night meeting.

The towns that belong to the recycling program are Bethel, Brownfield, Canton, Denmark, Gilead, Greenwood, Hanover, Hebron, Livermore, Lincoln Plantation, Newry, Norway, Otisfield, Paris, Stoneham, Upton, Waterford, West Paris, and Woodstock. Milton, Albany and Mason townships also participate.