GOSHEN — Residents of Goshen will gather in Town Hall for a Cookie Social at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 2, followed by the annual town meeting at 7 p.m. Town spending will likely be the hottest topic for discussion, but townspeople have several other important issues to decide Monday evening.

The selectboard is asking for $653,316 to spend on general municipal expenses, which represents an increase of $34,356, or about 5.5%, from last year. As was the case last year, that figure includes a $334,057 Municipal Energy Resilience Program (MERP) grant that will pay most or all of the renovation costs for town buildings, so the effect on taxpayers will be less than the top number suggests.

Item 7 on the town meeting warning asks to tap $120,000 from the Municipal Forest Account as a loan to aid in the Town Hall renovation project and to be paid back over 10 years. Officials expect to give some guidance on whether they will need the full $120,000 or not based on contractors’ bids that have come in since the warning went out.

Residents will also vote on $285,700 to defray the highway expenses. The road budget also includes some substantial grants.

“We’ve worked to control costs while ensuring our road foreman has the resources needed to maintain our 17.49 miles of town roads,” selectboard members said in the town report.

Like many other Vermont towns have done in recent years, Goshen voters will be asked to eliminate the office of Lister and replace it with a professionally qualified assessor. The selectboard is also asking for authority to pay $3,000 to hire Addison County Sheriff’s Department deputies to carry out four hours a month of speed enforcement.

Then, on Tuesday in Australian ballot voting, Goshen will also fill a few municipal offices on Town Meeting Day. The highest profile one is for a three-year seat on the selectboard. Timmi Moffi currently holds that position.

Also on Tuesday, Goshen voters will join their peers in Leicester, Whiting, Brandon, Sudbury and Pittsford in casting ballots on the budget and board members representing the Otter Valley Unified Union schools. The board warned a FY27 spending plan of $28,841,999, which is an increase of $818,286, or 2.92%. The spending is $14,257 per pupil in education spending — up about $5.5% from this year.

Goshen will also be voting on three at-large seats on the OVUU school board — two with a three-year term, and one to serve one year of a now-vacant three-year term.