WILTON — The Board of Selectpersons sliced a few budget requests Wednesday and settled on a $2.09 million spending plan for 2016-2017.
The proposal will be presented at the annual town meeting June 20.
The budget is $20,570 more than last year. It factors in $992,450 in expected revenues.
The board voted 4-1 to reduce $45,000 for waste treatment plant debt to $15,000. The intention is to take $15,000 from the town’s Tax Increment Financing district to provide a total of $30,000, the amount approved for wastewater infrastructure in 2012-2013. No requests were made over the past two years.
The Finance Committee voted to recommend $15,000 for the debt, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said.
The board voted 3-2 to recommend $108,000 for the Wilton Free Public Library, which is $1,675 less than requested. Part of the difference is a 2 percent pay increase for staff, who have not had a raise for several years, she said.
The Finance Committee voted to recommend the $109,675 requested.
The board and committee differed on amounts for social services and provider agencies. Selectpersons voted 3-2 to recommend funding for only the Wilton Area Food Pantry for $2,300. The Finance Committee recommended $2,500.
The committee also recommended $3,000 for Safe Voices, Irish said.
Safe Voices served 38 people in Wilton last year and is a strong advocate for protecting people from abuse, board Chairperson Tiffany Mauiri said.
Other members thought their work would not be affected if Wilton didn’t provide money.
“The food pantry relies on us,” Selectperson Jeff Adams said.
The board and committee voted to recommend no money for the American Red Cross, Work First or LifeFlight of Maine.
The board voted 3-1-0 to recommend $121,740 for the Fire Department, $8,594 more than last year.
The sum of $10,000 is recommended for a capital improvement account for fire apparatus.
An increase of $11,000 is requested for the Planning Board and Code Enforcement. The town intends to hire a code enforcement officer for 20 hours per week, after Roger Williams retires. He works one day a week in Wilton.
The board unanimously agreed to recommend trimming $5,000 from the Highway Department fuel budget, based on usage this year. It reduced the request to $849,850. The department’s initial request represented an increase of $37,500, partly due to an increase in workers’ compensation insurance.
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