MANCHESTER — Town Meeting voters on Thursday will decide the fate of the town’s proposed $1.7 million budget, which is down slightly and includes a $10,000 request for a school expense.

Amid all the funding requests for road paving and Town Office employee salaries is a $10,000 question asking voters to appropriate that sum to help pay for the cost of an education technician for Manchester Elementary School’s prekindergarten program.

Regional School Unit 38, which includes Manchester, has agreed to pay for the cost of a prekindergarten teacher and an ed tech for a half-day, according to Jeremy Pare, chairman of the selectmen. However, Manchester officials want to have two prekindergarten sessions, one morning and one afternoon, to keep class sizes down. Pare said 24 children are registered for prekindergarten, but more are likely to sign up before the next school year.

So voters at the Town Meeting, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the elementary school gymnasium, will be asked for $10,000 in town money to have the education technician work both the morning and afternoon sessions. A similar proposal, for $12,000, was approved by voters at last year’s meeting.

Pare, however, said town officials think the Regional School Unit should pay the cost in the future. He said at least two of the other three municipalities that make up Regional School Unit 38 have prekindergarten programs with staff funded by the RSU, using some funding the district receives from Head Start. However, Manchester doesn’t qualify for Head Start funding, Pare said, because per capita income there is too high.

“We decided, years ago, our Manchester kids should have that (prekindergarten) opportunity as well,” Pare said. “We feel as a town the RSU should be paying for this. It’s a school element. We’ve told the RSU this should be in their budget next year. It’s really about the kids and their education. It’s an equity issue.”

The proposed town budget going to voters, in numerous separate warrant articles, totals slightly more than $1.7 million, down by about $9,000 from the current year’s budget. However, an approximately $44,000 increase in Manchester’s share of the RSU budget, a $5,500 increase in the county tax, and a second year of reduced state revenue sharing money for Manchester mean residents are likely to face a property tax increase if everything on the warrant passes as proposed.

Town Manager Patrick Gilbert said while it’s impossible to say what the tax increase will be until the town’s total property valuation is calculated later this year, he anticipates the current rate of $14.95 for every $1,000 of value could increase to about $15.30.

“We looked to reduce the tax impact of education costs being up and revenue sharing being cut again,” Pare said. “The town is doing its best to try to cut, but we can only cut so much. The town budget is down a bit, but we’re still hoping to add some programs. There is opportunity in this budget. I hope it passes in full.”

Pare said the budget includes $500, in the county tax line, to increase the amount of time a Kennebec County sheriff’s deputy spends in the elementary school, $1,000 to pay a recreation director a stipend to organize community events, and $1,000 to be paired with $1,000 raised by the local parent-teacher organization to study potential improvements for younger children to the Castle Town playground at the elementary school.

Those are small amounts compared to proposals for road maintenance — $387,000 for summer maintenance, such as paving, and $250,000 for winter maintenance, including plowing and sanding.

Pare said road maintenance draws debate nearly every year, as officials and residents seek to save money but also not allow roads to deteriorate.

There are no proposed new staff hires, or staff cuts, in the budget.

Pare said the budget includes about $6,000 to provide town staff members with raises of 2 percent.

One warrant article seeks voter permission to take up to $150,000 from the town’s undesignated fund balance account to help fund the budget while lessening the effect on taxpayers. Gilbert said the account, generally made up of money unspent in previous years and used to cover unforeseen expenses, has about $1.16 million in it.

Residents will also be asked to help pick a town motto during the meeting.

Selectmen narrowed residents’ submitted mottos to five finalists, and residents are expected to vote for their favorite at the meeting. The options are “A great place to live,” “Where our history contributes to our future,” “A small town with a big heart,” “A place to grow” and the current motto, “The way life is.”

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

[email protected]

Twitter: @kedwardskj