$34.4M budget faces voters; Town meeting starts tomorrow.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Donna Boynton

MILLBURY - A $34.4 million budget for fiscal year 2009, $265,000 in capital projects, and an amendment to the town's bylaws regarding the town manager appointment process top the 45-article annual town meeting warrant.

The annual town meeting is at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the Millbury High School Auditorium, 12 Martin St.

The proposed $34.4 million budget provides level services for town departments, but the Finance Committee warns, in its annual letter to voters contained in the recommendation booklet, that additional spending at town meeting could cause the town to exceed the levy limit.

Last year's approved budget - for fiscal year 2008 - was $32.8 million.

The Finance Committee also warned that the budget is based on the governor's budget, and state aid has not yet been finalized. Any change that negatively affects the town's budget could require voters to return to town meeting to balance the budget, according to the Finance Committee's letter.

The $34.4 million proposed budget includes: $1.5 million for general government, a .6 percent increase from 2008; $3 million for public safety, which is a 2.8 percent increase; $17.2 million for the Millbury Public Schools, a 7.5 percent increase; and $1.4 million for public works, a 4.37 percent increase.

The town's annual assessment for the Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School is $772,955, a 2.1 percent reduction from the 2008 assessment.

Article 5 addresses the capital improvement projects, but not all projects are recommended by the Finance Committee.

The capital improvement projects supported by the Finance Committee are:

$125,000 for first-year lease payments for upgrading Highway Department vehicles and equipment

$30,000 to replace an equipment lift at the highway garage

$40,000 to replace the air compressor at fire headquarters (The air compressor is used to fill firefighters' breathing tanks.)

$30,000 to replace laptop computers in police cruisers

The Finance Committee recommended that a request for $40,000 to replace the telephone system in the Municipal Building be indefinitely postponed. The committee did not receive information or a project quote before making its...