Readfield residents will have a variety of ways to weigh in anonymously on the budget process now underway in town.

They can respond electronically to a survey on the town’s website, www.readfield.govoffice.com. That survey is expected to be available Wednesday or later.

They can pick up a printed survey at the Town Office, the Readfield libray, the transfer station and the post offices and mail it to the Town Office.

“The goal of this survey is to get feedback from the residents of the community on our mill rates, our taxes and where they think we can make cuts,” said Sue Reay, chairwoman of the Select Board, which approved a final version of the survey Monday night. “We’re getting a lot of feedback on the street, but we want to see it in writing.”

The questions ask what tax rate the respondent wants the town to achieve and what town services could be cut to help reduce costs.

“This could include people, roads, Town Office, transfer station, library, anything that our tax dollars fund,” Reay said. “We want the feedback.”

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This year that feedback is particularly important because voters indicated in November that they want all the annual town warrant articles to be decided at the polls.

Because of that, the Select Board has scheduled a number of public meetings and public hearings leading up to the June 9 vote.

“We’ve booked ourselves into a lot of meetings so we can hear a lot of voices,” Reay said. “We want to hear what the will of the voters is.”

The surveys are being accepted through Feb. 27.

The public meetings are scheduled for March 5 and 12 to get input from the public and the budget committee. “It will be like a town meeting if enough people show up,” Reay said.

The board is scheduled to vote on the final warrant March 23. Then two public hearings will follow on May 27 and 28.

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So far, the board and the town’s budget committee have held two joint meetings to hear presentations on the various department budgets, and Reay said the process is moving more quickly than previously because ballots have to be prepared.

The municipal budget for the current fiscal year is more than $2.1 million with more than a quarter of that devoted to roads and 21 percent to government administration.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams


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