SABATTUS — The Board of Selectmen have approved the town meeting warrant, the final step before voters decide on its 42 articles May 16.

The proposed municipal budget is $2.9 million. If all articles are approved as recommended by selectmen, the tax rate would remain the same or drop by 15 cents per $1,000 of property value, depending on the town valuation, Town Manager Anthony Ward said.

The municipal budget does not include assessments from Regional School Unit 4 and Androscoggin County, Ward added. The school budget accounts for about 61% of Sabattus residents’ tax bills. The municipal budget, about 31% and the county assessment, about 7%.

“I asked about the (tax) rate because you see a lot of towns going up a buck, a buck and a half this year and I don’t want to do that, like we have in the past,” Selectman Guy Desjardins said.

Board Chairman Mark Duquette said the town has done a good job of keeping the budget down the past couple of years.

Two years ago, the tax rate dropped by a dollar, and last year it stayed flat, Ward said, even while road work and construction projects were completed.

“I think we had a great approach, and I think the Budget Committee did a good job,” Selectman Jean Paul Curran said.

“The dynamic, moving parts are the revenue-sharing from the state, which might go up. That could change things,” Ward said.

The annual town meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 16 in the Community Room of the Town Office.