CARRABASSETT VALLEY – Residents will vote to approve funds for a $1.5 million Carrabassett Valley Public Library and Community Center at their annual town meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Carrabassett Valley Outdoor Center.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the town office to elect two selectmen, one school board member and two Sanitary District directors.

Incumbent Selectmen John Beaupre and Steven Pierce each seek to keep their seats for another three years, while Danielle London seeks re-election on the school board. John Clements and Steven Pierce are also seeking re-election to the Sanitary District. All are running unopposed.

After a successful two-year capital campaign that netted more than $500,000, the library project is ready for a vote, said Jean Keith, president of the library’s board of directors. If approved, construction will start this spring. The project includes the library and a leased space for the nonprofit Western Mountain Center for Children.

During public hearings on the project, residents voiced their desire for a larger room where people can gather, Keith said. A community room seating 75 is included in the design.

Warrant article 56 asks voters to approve $200,000 from undesignated surplus and $300,000 from the recreation endowment fund, in addition to borrowing $675,000 for this project.

Donations and grants, along with Sugarloaf USA and Carrabassett Valley Academy donating pieces of land around the project, have made it a collaborative effort from the community, she said.

The proposed $1,879,750 budget represents an increase in expenses of $40,293, Town Manager Dave Cota said. With basically flat municipal revenues, the net municipal budget represents an increase of 2.8 percent.

An extra $20,373 for the Communications Center Budget and $14,672 more for the town’s share of the transportation system are figured in the budget.

Although the school budget will be voted on in June, Cota expects it to increase this year to $1,053,243. The town also expects an increase of $49,015 for its share of this year’s Franklin County Budget, for a total of $568,000.

Cota said he expects the tax rate will go up.

Voters will also be asked to approve the use of $10,000 from the town’s airport reserve fund as a match for federal and state grants estimated at $341,250 to design and build an aircraft apron next to the existing one.