WATERFORD — Voters at town meeting Saturday will act on a 68-article warrant that represents a $1.2 million budget, about 5 percent more than last year.

Selectmen said a total of $1.18 million would be raised by taxes; the remainder would come from the town’s savings or from the previous fiscal year budget surplus.

If the municipal budget is approved and combined with the town’s portion of the Oxford County budget increase of 5.53 percent and the Oxford Hills School District budget increase of 2.99 percent, selectmen said they expect the tax rate would increase from $13.25 to $13.75 per $1,000 of valuation.

Selectmen said the proposed budget represents a total dollar increase of slightly less than $68,000. According to information from the board, the major items that drove the requested increase include:

* $33,812 for highways, bridges and winter road accounts.

* $23,658 for repayment of the plow truck to the forestry account.

* $8,250 to complete the computerization of the tax cards.

* $8,150 to pay for repairs completed earlier this year on the westerly arch at Elm Vale Cemetery.

The board pinpointed areas in the budget where cost-cutting or revenue helped minimize the tax burden. They include: $15,000 from a billing error dating back to 2005; $12,000 received from the sale of a tax-acquired property; $10,000 from a competitive bidding of the town’s general insurance policy; and $10,000 in savings from a change to the town’s medical plan that will increase the employee deductible from $500 to $1,000.

Other savings included $17,100 for mutual aid services provided to Albany Township for 2011 and $20,000 for mutual aid services provided to Albany Township for 2012 and beyond.

Voters will be asked to approve $150,000 to continue tarring, surfacing and/or resurfacing Waterford roads; $330,612 for the care of Waterford roads and bridges; and $117,125 for the maintenance of the transfer station.

Voters will be asked to approve a change in the Solid Waste Ordinance that will, in part, require new stickers every three years instead of every year, and a mandate that all recyclables be placed in the recycling compactor.

The annual town election will be held Friday, March 2, at the Municipal Office on Valley Road from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Incumbent Selectman Richard Hunt is running unopposed for the post he has held since 2009.

Copy the Story Link