BYRON – At today’s 6:30 p.m. town meeting, voters face a proposed $101,600 budget, which is down $2,500 from last year.

It does not include SAD 43 and county tax assessments, which are done later in the year.

Among increases, selectmen recommend raising $12,000 for town road repairs, up $6,000 from last year; $3,000 for legal services, for which nothing was allocated last year; $7,500 for insurances, up $2,500; $6,000 for the capital equipment account, and $9,000 for town officers, both up $2,000 each.

Some decreases from last year’s budget include $4,000 for solid waste collection, down $18,000; and $18,000 for the tax discount account, down $2,000.

There was no change in the fire department account, which seeks $5,000, and no additional money is requested for the snow removal account, due to a remaining 2006 budget balance of $7,365.

Among new requests, Article 35 asks whether or not to withdraw the moratorium on campground development, set last June to allow planners to draft a commercial campground ordinance. If voters do not lift it, they must decide to set April 20 as the final date for a vote on the ordinance. No more extensions will be allowed.

However, Town Clerk Roseanna Susbury said Friday that residents will vote on the ordinance in a special referendum election set for Tuesday, March 20. She said she hopes that a final draft of the ordinance will be available tonight.

Municipal officers seeking reelection, which is done from the floor, are Susbury as town clerk, Bruce Simmons as selectman and Melissa Plourde as treasurer and tax collector.

Article 7, which asks voters to choose a SAD 43 director, is an error that will have to be overridden, Susbury said.

Residents elected a new director last year, so the term isn’t up until 2009.