WILTON — Monday, April 12, the Select Board and Finance Committee reviewed and voted on items for the town’s $3.8 million proposed budget which will appear on the warrant at the June 14 annual town meeting.

The board and committee voted to reduce the new pension and benefits Capital Reserve account in half to $10,000. The account was proposed by Town Manager Rhonda Irish to establish a savings fund for paying out benefits when town employees leave their positions.

Selectperson David Leavitt said he understood the importance of the fund but was unsure if this was the best year to implement the account. Leavitt referenced the proposed increase to the Regional School Unit 9 budget that taxpayers will also face this year.

“So, there’s really very few times that it’s a good time to start something like this, but it is an unfunded liability and my understanding is our auditors both past and probably present, they frown on unfunded liabilities,” Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri said. 

Each department uses its own budgeted funds to pay out employees. When several employees leave at once, a department’s budget can go over and the town has to dip into other budget sources to cover benefit payouts.

“We just recently had two police officers leave and that cost us about $6,000 out of that department,” Irish said.

There are currently 17 town employees which amounts to over $105,000 in payout benefits.

The board and committee also adjusted the Capital Paving budget. It was reduced from $603,000 to $591,000 of which $265,000 will now come from the Undesignated Fund balance to ease the burden on taxpayers.

“We’re using undesignated fund balance to do these projects because I believe we have the ability and we still get the projects done without impacting the taxpayers substantially,” Leavitt said. 

The Capital Paving budget will cover road and sidewalk improvements. Roads scheduled to be improved include Munson Road, Munson Road Extension, Adams, Thomas, Birch, Lothrop, Gilbert Street South, Sanford McCrillis, Farmer, Pratt, Morrison Hill and a portion of Blue Spruce Road.

The Cemeteries budget remained at $51,200 but half of that amount will now come out of the Cemetery Trust Fund as proposed by board members.

When reviewing amounts for local nonprofits, different amounts were proposed. The board voted 3-2 to fund Greater Franklin Development Council at $4,000 while the committee voted 6-2 to fund the council $3,000.

Both the board and the committee voted to increase funding for the Wilton Area Food Pantry by $200 after voting against funding Maine Public Broadcasting Network $100 and Tri County Mental Health $100.

The Select Board will hold a final vote on the town warrant Tuesday, May 4. Town elections will be held Tuesday, June 8, and the Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 14.