ADDISON — Addison selectmen have proposed a budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year that has a higher face value, but the major spending increase within it will be supported by a capital fund in the highway budget into which residents have contributed in past years.
Addison selectmen are requesting combined highway and general fund spending of $872,503, up about $21,300 from 2009-2010.
However, that spending includes a $24,761 payment for a new truck that will come from the highway department’s equipment depreciation fund, and will not be paid for by new taxes. Town Clerk Jane Grace said, therefore, the budget is essentially level with current spending.
Addison residents will cast ballots on the spending proposal on Town Meeting Day.
There are some changes within the numbers. In the general fund budget, selectmen added $10,000 to replace carpeting and install a new chimney at the town clerk’s office, and they deducted about $6,500 in anticipation of lower legal fees.
Because this year’s one-time $8,600 line item to retrofit the office bathroom will come off the books and because of some smaller decreases, the net result is a drop in proposed general fund spending from about $312,000 to roughly $307,000.
In highway spending, selectmen have recommended adding about $12,700 to the equipment depreciation fund, while subtracting $5,000 from culverts and $3,000 from gravel road maintenance.
The list value of the proposed highway budget is $565,462, an increase of about $26,600 over this year’s spending. That figure, however, includes the truck payment that will be made from the depreciation fund.
If all requests for charitable donations are approved, another $32,350 would be added to town spending next year. Total requests on the ballot are about $5,700 higher than in 2009, largely because of two higher requests. The Bixby Library in Vergennes is requesting an additional $2,700; the Bixby board is seeking more support from each of the towns the library serves.  Meanwhile, Town Line First Response is asking for $2,000 more than a year ago.
An article on the Town Meeting Day ballot also asks voters to approve $10,000 to continue studying the feasibility of a shared septic system that could serve the clerk’s office, the now-unused historic town hall, the Community Baptist Church, the town fire department, and possibly private properties in the Addison Four Corners area, including the store and maybe a few homes.
Preliminary results showed that such a system could be built to the west of the elementary school for between $450,000 and $500,000, not including land costs. Grants could cut the system cost in half, engineers said, adding that more research is now needed to determine the exact capacity of the promising soils on the site.
Reporter Andy Kirkaldy is at [email protected].