Mount Vernon residents will gather at 9 a.m. Saturday at Mount Vernon Elementary School to consider the town’s proposed budget and several other articles during the business portion of Town Meeting.

The town’s overall budget — which includes the school cost — is up 5.45 percent, according to an email from Paul Crockett, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

The total municipal expense proposal is just over $1.3 million. With the school costs and the county tax, the total comes to about $4.7 million, which is about $300,000 over the current year’s figure.

“The largest single line item increase is a $214,753 increase in our Regional School Unit 38 assessment,” Crockett said, adding that the public works/highway budget is up by $45,886. “Of that increase, $10,000 is snow plowing, $20,000 goes into our roads capital improvement account, $8,000 for construction and $3,000 for maintenance.”

The totals listed on the meeting warrant are $107,000 for the transfer station, $174,332 for road construction and paving and $187,550 for the snowplowing contract, as well as $68,250 for the salt and sand stockpile, and $40,000 set aside for capital improvements for public works and highways.

“Our revenues are actually up quite a lot,” Crockett said, calculating the difference at about $32,000.

The warrant also asks about $250,000 in appropriations for general government activities.

Crockett said the administrative budget includes “a one-time $7,500 expense to update our 1964 tax maps to have them digitized, and update any/all roads and subdivisions for both tax and most importantly E-911 purposes.”

The warrant also asks voters to approve using almost $521,000 in revenue, which includes an estimated $290,000 in car and truck excise tax, to reduce the total tax commitment.

It also asks if residents will take $50,000 from the undesignated fund balance to use toward expansion of the Dr. Shaw Memorial Library, which is underway. Selectman Clyde Dyar said the money would be used if needed.

“I expect a short meeting,” Dyar said. “There’s a couple of things on the warrant for the zoning ordinance, a couple housekeeping things, nothing serious.”

Other, nonmonetary questions include language changes to the Land Use Ordinance dealing with setbacks and “automobile hobbyist” partly to conform to state statutes, a definition for “adjacent lot” for certain commercial activities, and some language changes relating to mineral extraction and blasting.

The current tax rate in Mount Vernon is $16.40 for each $1,000 worth of assessed property valuation.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams