RUMFORD — Residents approved a revised General Assistance budget on Tuesday by a difference of eight votes.

Sixty-seven voters chose selectmen’s recommendation to raise and appropriate $65,000, and appropriate all revenues and reimbursements received by the town designated for General Assistance, Town Clerk Beth Bellegarde said Tuesday night following a hand count after the polls closed at 8 p.m.

Fifty-nine voters chose the Finance Committee recommendation to raise and appropriate $70,000 and appropriate $50,000 from available funds for a total budget of $120,000, including the appropriation of all revenues designated for General Assistance.

A third option for neither recommendation got 58 votes, Bellegarde said.

The issue came up last month when voters rejected the original recommendation of $93,406 at the June 10 town meeting referendum. It was the only municipal budget article that failed to pass. On June 19, selectmen unanimously approved a budget of $65,000, a $28,406 decrease.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com


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