JAY — Selectmen and the Budget Committee voted Monday to approve a proposed $6.29 million municipal budget for 2011-12.

It will go to voters on June 14 in a referendum. A public hearing will be held on the warrant articles at 6 p.m. Monday, May 2, at the Jay High School library.

The budget reflects a $110,000 increase from the current year.

Selectmen unanimously voted to increase the proposed $350,000 paving budget by $100,000 to bring it up to $450,000 Monday. The intent is to try and get more work done, they said.

If the cost of paving materials is too high, Chairman Steve McCourt said, they’ll just do as they did two years ago, and not spend it until the price comes down.

Selectmen ended up combining two years of paving appropriations into one and getting a lot of work done, he said.

The Budget Committee was not as agreeable on the paving budget increase as the Board of Selectmen. They voted 5-4 to increase it by the $100,000 with Chairwoman Pearl Cook and members Tom Fortier, Rick Merrill and Tina Riley opposed.

Budget Committee member April Hartford warned before the vote that it is like playing Russian roulette. If the voters reject the article, then they lose all the paving money for the year.

Both selectmen and the budget panel agreed to add back $4,000 for travel for transportation for the summer recreation program.

Town Manager Ruth Cushman had put in $12,000 for the program without transportation money.

Jay children go to Livermore Falls for the six-week program.

However, the new Regional School Unit 73 district will not be providing transportation for the program, which means there will be no trips this year, Cushman said.

She asked that the $4,000 be added back in to make the proposed budget $16,000. Cushman said she is exploring options to transport Jay kids to the program, and possibly provide busing for trips for the program.

“I don’t think a lot of kids would go to summer rec without transportation,” McCourt said.

“It really is a great service for our kids,” Cushman said.

Selectmen and the Budget Committee also voted to approve a proposed $547,765 town government budget.

The budget supports six employees: Town manager, town clerk, deputy town clerk, deputy tax collector and two finance positions, Town Clerk Ronda Palmer said when asked.

Selectmen’s stipends, town meeting/election expenses and other expenses are also included in that budget.

The deputy finance director position, currently held by Jill Gingras, has been funded for the whole year.

“We’re going to look at that in August,” McCourt said. “It is funded but we might not spend all that.”

Due to Jay schools consolidating with RSU 36 to establish RSU 73 as of July 1, it is unknown if the deputy director’s position is needed. The new school system will handle its own finances.

Jay Finance Director Lisa Bryant said that there were two people in the Finance Department prior to the school finance portion being added and municipal finance positions absorbing the work.

There is finance software that would cost $19,000 a year for five years and make municipal accounting more efficient but would not replace a second position, Bryant said.

When the school leaves, there is still going to be work for two, 40-hour positions, she said.

“There is still a lot of work,” she said.

Selectmen plan to review the situation in August and if the position is not needed, they would consider using the leftover money from the position to buy the new software, McCourt said.

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