Town meeting set for March 2

WEST PARIS —   Voters, on March 2, will decide on a 41-article warrant and consider a recommended budget of $1,099,831. 

The meeting will start at 10 a.m. at the Agnes Gray Elementary School on Main Street. 

According to Town Manager John White, if Governor Paul LePage's proposed 2014-2015 budget is passed, the town could see a shortfall of approximately $57,000 in its overall budget.

This means a special town meeting will need to be held to "de-fund" a portion of the town's capital reserves, he said, including the highway capital reserve and capital equipment reserve. 

Voters at town meeting will decide whether to raise and appropriate $70,000 to the town's highway improvement capital reserve account and $50,000 to the capital equipment reserve, White said. 

The recommended budget does not include the SAD 17 budget, he said. "It's still up in the air."

The proposed town budget includes $515,898 in offsetting revenues and results in a tax levy of $583,933.

Currently, the town's mil rate is $15.30 per $1,000 of assessed value, a $50 increase for a home valued at $100,000, from the previous year. 

Voters will decide whether to raise and appropriate $309,684 for highway department operations, $70,142 for fire department operations, $31, 365 for the West Paris Library and $12,000 for street lighting. 

They will also decide on  $19,500 for General Assistance, $101, 089 for the town's transfer station, $15,400 for recreation, including the swim instruction program and maintenance of the athletic complex and $2,500 for the West Paris Explorers After-School Program. 

 Voters will also choose a selectman, assessor, overseer of the poor, water district director and school director for three-year terms.