CARTHAGE – Residents at Monday’s annual town meeting asked selectmen to appoint a committee to develop a long-range road improvement plan.

It appeared all 43 residents in attendance wanted the roads to be passable, but no one wanted taxes to go up. Nearly 30 minutes was spent discussing road funding articles, which passed.

Voters passed an article objecting to regionalizing schools without enough representation.

Gary Hutchinson, who proposed the article, said when Carthage and Canton joined SAD 21 together they had the same representation on the school board as Dixfield. Then the state changed the rules so representation on the board was based on population, which gave Dixfield nearly absolute control.

Hutchinson pointed out that if a town tries to withdraw from a school district it must still pay its share of the school debt. He said if the town got into a supersized district as proposed by Gov. John Baldacci it would have no control and no practical way to withdraw.

He said 74 percent of Carthage property taxes goes to schools, which is more than other towns, yet it has less representation.

An article to permit selectmen to appoint three people to help them with appraisals passed. First Selectman Stephen Brown pointed out that the three selectmen serve as the assessors in town, which saves the town $30,000 to $40,000. They assess each piece of property every year, publish all assessments in the town report and meet with any residents who feel there are inequities.

Lawrence Blodgett moderated the meeting at the Webb River Community Hall.

Town Clerk Linda Berry noted the town report was dedicated to the memory of Donald R. Bradeen Sr. Bradeen, who was born here in 1924 and served the town and his neighbors in many ways over the years. The back cover of the report showed him mowing the old town dump just a few months before he died on Nov. 26, 2006, at the age of 82.