KINGFIELD — The annual town meeting Saturday morning will include the election of two officials and voting on a budget that has increased a small percentage over that of last year.
Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, at Kingfield Elementary School, voters will decide on a 42-article warrant, which includes budget items and elections for a selectman and a school board member, both three-year terms.
Selectman Mervin Wilson declined to run for another term, and challengers Brad Orbeton and Brian Hatfield are competing for that seat. Two challengers, Paul Orbeton and William Swain, will vie for former school board representative Sarah Byrne’s seat.
Selectmen and the Budget Committee approved separate recommendations for a 2015-16 budget, according to Administrative Assistant Leanna Targett.
“Selectmen recommend $849,887, which is a 2.68 percent increase from this fiscal year,” she said. “The Budget Committee recommends $827,087, which is a 0.45 percent increase.”
Last year, the voters raised $823,352, which was an increase of 2.35 percent, Targett said. This year’s proposed increases have been modest but reflect a combination of decreased revenues from the state and increased costs for services and insurance.
Voters will decide whether to proceed with a Safe Routes to School sidewalk project. The town will be required to contribute 20 percent, or an estimated $80,000, as their share of the proposed Maine Department of Transportation’s cost to rebuild the section of sidewalk from Depot Street to Kingfield Elementary School.
Another article will ask voters if they would like to hold the 2016 town meeting on the first Monday evening in June, as Saturday morning town meetings have not not been well-attended.
Residents also will be asked to approve updates to the 1983 Wastewater Disposal Ordinance.
Many of the articles in the warrant come from nonprofit organizations that do not receive money at the county level.
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