FARMINGTON – Pay raises of 1.7 percent for town employees are among the issues that will be decided at the annual town meeting Monday, March 12.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Community Center on Middle Street, with polls open there from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to elect officers.

The employee salary hikes account for most of the $13,436 increase in the proposed $647,702 general administration budget.

The Police Department’s request for $959,070 – last year’s budget was $897,021 – includes more money for salaries and overtime, Town Manager Richard Davis said.

Another increase is $37,278 for fire hydrants due to the water district’s rate increase. Last year $188,710 was appropriated.

Along with the mostly routine budget items on warrant are an article to allow the Board of Selectmen to use whatever amount they deem necessary from the town’s Undesignated Fund Balance to reduce property taxes. At the end of the 2006 budget year, the fund balance was $1,368,497. A total of $120,000 in 2006 was used for this purpose.

The sum of $22,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance is also requested for repairs to Walton’s Mill Pond Dam. At the 2006 annual town meeting, voters approved $10,000. The current estimate for the most needed repairs is $32,000.

Residents will also be asked to use a total of $196,000 from state Urban Rural Initiative Program for road improvements, including a redesign and reconstruction of a section of Bailey Hill Road at its intersection with the Osborne Road as well as other road improvements.

Another article asks for authorization for the town to apply for a Maine Community Development Block Grant, a Public Facilities-Historic Preservation Grant, to complete the Old North Church Restoration Project. The money would pay for foundation work and plumbing, electrical and heating systems updates and architectural and engineering fees.

Voters will elect two new members to the Board of Selectmen with two incumbent members running unopposed. Selectmen Dennis Pike and Stephan Bunker are running unopposed for the two, three-year terms.

Five candidates, John Frary, Andrew Hufnagel, Stanley Kuklinski, Ryan Morgan and Robert Vallette, are seeking a two-year term to succeed Selectman Mary Wright, who died this year.

A one-year term created by the resignation of Selectman Mark Cayer several months ago is being sought by Jon Bubier and Kyle Warren.

Two SAD 9 directors for three-year terms are being sought by incumbents Chairman Raymond Glass and Yvette Robinson, and by Fred O. Smith.

“I hope voters can find and take the time out of their busy lives to vote and to come to the town meeting,” Davis said. “We all live here and input on the services we receive is wanted. We are a grassroots democracy, and if we don’t participate, we risk losing it.”