JAY – There were more empty chairs than people Thursday night at an informational meeting on town and school budgets. Most of the 24 or so people who did attend were connected in one way or another to those budgets.

Since state education funding figures were not released as expected Wednesday, the town is looking at a May 7 referendum on the $5.8 million spending package for 2007-08 for town government. Since there are no projected state education figures, the preliminary $9.96 million school spending plan remains up in the air.

The new anticipated town meeting date is two weeks later than the initial date of April 23.

And the only way that date would stick is if school officials receive the state numbers soon and the School Committee and the Budget Committee can approve warrant articles on March 14.

The informational meeting was a chance for residents to question selectmen and school officials on the proposed spending packages and try to persuade them to make changes – up or down – before it goes to hearing.

But only one question was asked as selectmen’s Chairman Bill Harlow read aloud all 47 articles pertaining to town operations.

The question was about the $76,000 to reconstruct and repave the tennis courts compared to the $150,000 in an article for road paving.

“It just seems quite expensive,” Fire Rescue Chief Scott Shink said.

The tennis courts, located near the elementary school, need to be dug up and redone and have a different type of paving put down than for roads, Town Manager Ruth Marden said.

The town’s spending plan is $108,754.42 or about 3 percent less than the current budget if all articles pass.

However, selectmen and Budget Committee members are recommending voters reject a $200,250 article for emergency dispatch, which would send the service to be provided by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

If the dispatch article is rejected as recommended, then savings would be $309,004.42 or in excess of an 8 percent reduction from the existing budget.

All of the spaces where dollar figures would go in the school warrant articles were blank due to not having the state figures.

Those numbers were supposed to be released by law, Feb. 1, but the state is more than a month late.

The school and budget committees have not been able to finalize warrant articles for the proposed preliminary $9.96 million budget yet because of that.

If the budget is approved as presented, it would be $504,204 or 4.8 percent less than the existing $10.46 million budget.

The school budget has dropped from $10.6 million in 2004-05 to $10.46 million in 2006-07 and would continue to drop if the proposal on the table is approved, according to figures presented by Superintendent Robert Wall.

The account hit hardest in the preliminary budget is instruction. It would be reduced from the existing $6.1 million to $5.7 million, which is a $379,426 difference and includes cutting teaching positions.

Marden said if the school warrants are approved in mid-March, the hearing on the budgets would be March 26.

The May 7 town meeting date just barely gives the town enough time to have a second referendum, if articles fail, before the new fiscal year begins on July 1, Marden said.