SABATTUS – Selectmen voted Tuesday night to use $69,160.24 in the road paving account to cover a half mile of Fisher Farm Road, from the turnpike bridge to Marsh Road.

The board also voted to used approximately $6,000 from the contingency account to pave more than two-tenths of a mile of Elm Street.

Selectman Steve Wood argued that the board promised taxpayers that in addition to Fisher Farm Road and Elm Street, Williams and Keay roads would be done as well.

“I proposed using the appropriated $69,160.24 from the road paving fund and then borrow $49,492 from the contingency account to pave all the promised roads, and to use the state tax guaranteed reimbursement to pay the contingency account back,” he said.

“This would give us $118,652.24 to pave the roads that need to be paved,” Wood said. “Any overage would then go back into the contingency.”

Despite the state’s estimated paving reimbursement in four payments throughout the next year, Chairman Guy Desjardins expressed reservations about dipping into the contingency fund.

“I would rather wait until the money is in,” he said. “You never spend what you don’t have. If anything happens to the town in the next 10 months, we are in trouble.”

Desjardins said he believes that because the town dipped into the contingency account recently to keep the tax rate at $25 per $1,000 of assessed property value, it would be a poor time to use more of it than needed.

Town Administrator Tracy Fabrizio said tax bills went out last week and are due to be paid by Sept. 15.