FARMINGTON — Residents will get a chance Monday night to review the 2013 budget proposal for Franklin County, which would raise the overall amount communities pay in county taxes by about $118,400, or 2.4 percent.

The county’s budget committee will present its $5,357,766 spending plan at a hearing inside the Franklin County Courthouse on Main Street in Farmington at 6 p.m.

The meeting is the last chance for residents to comment on the county budget process, with county officials expected to vote later this month to adopt a final version. County commissioners and the budget committee are involved in a shared approval process that does not require a public vote.

But the fate of a proposal to spend nearly $600,000 to build a new emergency 911 dispatch center for Franklin County, which does go before voters June 12, will have a major effect on the coming year’s budget and beyond.

The dispatch center, which shares space with the Franklin County sheriff’s department, has been the topic of lengthy debate over space shortages in county government offices.

If the project is approved, the first debt payment will be about $60,000 and that money is already included in the budget proposal, according to county clerk Julie Magoon. The county would face a similar debt payment each year for the next 15 years.

Although the added cost for the debt payment is included in the 2013 budget proposal, Magoon said she does not expect a significant increase in the tax rate.

Depending on valuation and other budget factors, the tax rate will probably remain close to about $1 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, she said. The owner of a $100,000 home would pay about $100 in county taxes.

Without the debt payment for the dispatch center project, the 2013 budget proposal primarily consists of slight increases for fixed costs such as fuel and heating, Magoon said.

There are 2 percent raises included in the proposal for all county employees, with that figure subject to change depending on contract negotiations, she said.

Also without the debt payment, the overall amount communities pay in county taxes increases by about $56,647, or 1.2 percent. That’s the figure that is used in the commissioner’s version of the 2013 budget proposal, providing a contingency if voters reject the dispatch center project, Magoon said.

The budget committee will vote Thursday during its meeting to adopt their final version of the budget. There are nine members on the board split evenly among the county’s three voting districts.

The committee’s version of the budget will then require approval by the three county commissioners, who will meet June 19 and must vote unanimously to make any changes.

The budget committee would then get a final chance to overrule the commissioners. That step requires a majority vote by the committee members.

The proposal to build a new dispatch center is the second attempt by county officials to address the issue. In 2010, voters rejected a $4.46 million plan to relocate most county offices and build a new dispatch center. That plan failed 7,783-4,398.

After that, the county has since started leasing space for the district attorney’s office, which was among the county offices in the courthouse. The leasing is costing the county about $22,000 annually. County officials have said the move was necessary because the old district’s attorney’s office was in the courthouse basement, where there are mold and air quality issues.

The most recent plan to build a new dispatch center is asking voters to approve spending $598,300, with the county paying off the project with a 15-year loan.

David F. Robinson — 861-9287

[email protected]