WILTON – Voters could face a decision on whether the town should rejoin the Maine State Retirement System on the warrant for a special town meeting in December.

The warrant will come before selectmen when they meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the town office.

People here voted to leave the state retirement system in 1985 due to the way rates were set for towns, said Town Manager Peter Nielsen on Monday. This year, during labor negotiations, police asked to rejoin the system. That would allow retirement after 20 years of service regardless of age, he said.

There are two opportunities during the year for a town to rejoin – in January or July. Approval at the Dec. 16 meeting would give the town time to join in January, he added.

Full-time town employees would have the option to be in the retirement system on a voluntary basis. While municipal costs would be covered by funds invested by the state system for Wilton since it left the program, employees would contribute 6.5 percent of their wages. Since some may not want any more taken from their pay, joining would be voluntary, Nielsen said.

Also on the warrant are articles that would authorize selectmen to sell a town-owned four-acre undeveloped lot on Hanslip Road and another on Munson Road.

While the board has favored selling some town-acquired properties in order to get them back on the tax rolls, a resident recently reminded selectmen that the voters should authorize the board to act prior to a sale, he said.

Selectmen will also make plans for the county’s change to a fiscal year.

The fiscal year will run from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, and towns will be given two options for county taxes for the six months from January through June, 2009, before the fiscal year begins, he said.

The town can either cover a six-month and a 12-month budget or choose to pay the six month charge over a five years with interest, he said.

The town pays approximately $218,000 a year now to the county. Adding half that amount or about $109,000 would mean the town would have to cover more than $300,000 when it makes its usual payment next fall.

Under the second option, Wilton’s portion would amount to about $20,000 per year over the next five years, he said.

“Either we do it painfully all at once or spread the pain over the next five years,” he said.

The county plans to borrow enough money to cover the six months.

The board will also entertain discussion for possible downtown improvements including turning an empty lot on Main Street into an outdoor theater for children to be called Dorothy’s Garden.