MEXICO – Voters will go to the polls Tuesday, June 9, to decide on a municipal budget for fiscal year 2009-10.

Residents will decide on 11 money articles that, if all approved, will result in a $3,616,896 budget, down about $34,000 from the figure approved for the current year.

Voters will also act on several land-use-related questions.

These include: minor amendments to the town’s comprehensive plan, bringing the town’s flood plain management plan in line with federal regulations, bringing the town’s shoreland zoning ordinance in line with state regulations and deciding whether to accept the former SAD 43 central office from the district. That building, constructed in 1961, is next to the 1930s former Mexico High School, which is now the town’s recreation building.

Town Manager John Madigan said if residents agree to acquire the property, selectmen will likely hold a special workshop to determine what would be the best use for it.

Other articles requiring voter action include: a request by St. Athanasius and St. John School for financial support to transport its students, approval to establish a municipal fuel reserve account and a decision on whether to continue holding town meetings by ballot rather than through a districtwide meeting.

Voters will also decide whether to exceed the state-imposed property tax levy, and choose one selectman for a three-year term and one for a one-year term.

They will also vote on the approved budget of $34.1 million for operating the newly created Western Foothills School District, RSU 10, of which Mexico is a member. Although voters already passed the budget, the state requires a second vote to validate it.

Madigan said virtually all of the 11 municipal money articles are less this year than last year, but whether the current tax rate of $23.35 per $1,000 valuation will remain the same or rise slightly will depend upon the amount of revenue the town collects and how much in undesignated funds are used.

He said state revenue sharing is expected to decline, as is the amount of excise tax. A referendum question on the November ballot seeks to cut the amount of excise tax collected by towns in half. If it passes, he said the impact would be critical to the town’s revenues.

He said, too, that voting down a money article would call for selectmen to either set another vote, or revert to the amount in this year’s account. In most cases, last year’s figures are higher than the proposed figures presented for the upcoming budget.

Although voters get to vote yes or no only on selectmen’s recommendations, each article also includes a recommendation by the town Budget Committee.