Town officials are planning to eliminate curbside recycling in a proposed $2.6 million municipal budget prepared as part of an ongoing effort to address loss of tax revenue at Madison Paper Industries.

The proposed $2,646,328 budget is about $46,000 less than last year’s budget and will be voted on by residents at the June 13 Town Meeting. A public meeting on the budget will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Old Point Avenue school.

In addition to eliminating curbside recycling, town officials have cut $75,000 from the budget originally intended to fund the repaving of Heald Street. Capital projects are being capped at $60,000 after no money was raised for them last year.

Keeping a tight budget is a response to what Town Manager Tim Curtis called an “economic crisis” that stems from the devaluation of Madison Paper Industries by $150 million in 2014. The reassessment, requested by the mill, reduced the town’s tax revenue by about $2 million in September 2014, just a few months after a municipal budget had been approved at $3.2 million, and last year the town saw a first wave of efforts to lower annual costs.

Madison Paper’s announcement last month that the mill will close in May, laying off all of its 215 employees, will not have as much of an impact on the town budget as the loss of revenue did in 2014, Curtis said. Currently valued at $80 million, the mill is up-to-date on its taxes, unlike some other mills around the state, which have closed amidst bankruptcy filings, Curtis said.

“We took the biggest hit with the reduction of value two years ago, so (the mill closing) doesn’t have a huge impact on our budget,” he said.

Still, officials have decided to eliminate the money for the Heald Street project and curbside recycling. But unlike last year when no capital projects were included in the budget, officials this year are proposing spending $60,000 for road surface repairs and replacement of a plow truck.

“It’s a really small amount, but we’re taking everything in small steps right now,” Curtis said.

The cost of curbside recycling is about $40,000 per year. Curtis said the Board of Selectmen thought the cost was unjustified for a service that is used by only about 200 to 250 people.

“Curbside recycling is pretty important to the people that use it, so there might be some concern and that might be brought up Wednesday night,” Curtis said. “That’s why we have an advisory board. The selectmen come up with a budget and the advisory board can confirm what they want to confirm or challenge what they want to challenge. That’s the process.”

If curbside recycling is eliminated, residents who want to recycle can take recyclables to transfer stations either in Norridgewock or Skowhegan.

Also included in the 2016-2017 budget is a proposed $485,000 for police services. Officials plan to continue contracting police services with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, a plan that originally was put in place as a cost-saving measure in 2015. The change from a local independent police department to opening a Madison division of the sheriff’s office cut about $100,000 from the town budget, mainly through the elimination of a local police chief and the salary for that position.

Curtis said officials plan to renew the one-year contract with the sheriff’s office after Town Meeting. The town still pays about $700 a week in unemployment to former Madison chief Barry Moores and former Sgt. David Trask, who is suing the town and the county, claiming wrongful termination after his dismissal by the sheriff’s office last year. The unemployment payments are scheduled to continue through June.

Unemployment payments come from reserve accounts and are not included in the budget as money that needs to be raised from taxation, Curtis said.

“We’ve been very pleased with the sheriff’s office and the communication from them. The budget process with them went very smoothly this year, and we’re very pleased with all of the training the deputies are receiving. For the most part, we’ve heard really nothing but positive things from people in town about the police coverage,” Curtis said.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @rachel_ohm