WAYNE — Residents at next week’s Town Meeting will vote on a budget that is down nearly $84,000 and decide whether to make the town manager a full-time employee.

Referendum voting is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Ladd Recreation Center on Gott Road, followed by the open Town Meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, back at the recreation center.

Voters on Tuesday will choose a new selectman to fill the seat of Raymond Giglio, whose term is up. Peter Ault and Gary William Carr are vying for the position.

Residents also will decide Tuesday whether to approve the town’s portion of the Regional School Unit 38 budget. The school district, which also includes Manchester, Mount Vernon and Readfield, is seeking $1.7 million from the town, which is up more than $400,000, or 10 percent, from this year. The increase is primarily a result of reduced state funding.

The town’s budget, meanwhile, is down by $84,000 to $981,263, primarily through the town’s retirement of debt, which is did by paying off bonds taken to improve the village dam and Pond Road.

“It’s a no-frills budget,” Town Manager Aaron Chrostowsky said.

The town’s share of the Kennebec County budget and the Cobbossee Watershed District also will decrease next year.

Despite those decreases, if the town and school budgets are approved as presented, residents will see a 1.6 percent increase in property taxes, Chrostowsky said. The tax rate would increase from $1,405 per $100,000 in home valuation to $1,427. The medium home value in Wayne, according to the 2010 census, is $182,000, Chrostowsky said. That means the average homeowner would see property taxes jump from $2,570 this year to $2,610.

“Even though the town made great strides to save money to not pass along an increase, we still ended up with one,” Chrostowsky said.

Selectmen also hope to increase the town manager’s salary from $40,000 to $45,000 to make it a full 40-hour position. The current pay is based on a 35-hour work week.

“They want me to spend my additional time on the value-added things, like long-range planning, economic development and downtown development,” Chrostowsky said.

Residents also will be asked for permission to borrow $250,000 to repair about three-quarters of a mile of North Wayne Road. The town would pay a total of $265,000 on the five-year loan, including $60,000 this year.

Residents also may notice changes in how the town budget is presented. Chrostowsky said the idea was to include spending for salaries and benefits with corresponding departments.

“So it’s a true reflection of the cost of the service,” Chrostowsky said. “It makes the books a little more transparent.”

Craig Crosby — 621-5642
ccrosby@centralmaine.com