NORRIDGEWOCK — About 45 voters, quickly and without discussion, passed a $3.44 million budget this week that comes with no increase to property taxpayers’ responsibility.

The decisions came Monday night at the Mill Stream Elementary School gymnasium. About 2% of Norridgewock’s 2,300 registered voters gathered to address yearly municipal affairs at the annual town meeting.

They approved the $3,439,702 in spending for 2026 that the Select Board recommended. That marks an increase of about 4.36% over the 2025 budget.

Subtracting approximately $2.06 million in forecasted local revenue and approximately $657,000 in forecasted revenue from the state, property taxpayers are left with $718,255 to fund. That figure is only $822, or 0.11%, more than the local portion approved last year.

Town Manager Richard LaBelle called that a job well done by the town’s elected officials, given rising costs overall for labor, energy and other areas.

“I don’t think that there are any huge surprises here,” LaBelle said in an interview Monday before the meeting. “I think that the budget that got put forward is responsible.”

Now, Norridgewock’s property tax rate is $8.45 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation.

Despite the essentially flat municipal budget, it is too soon to know how property taxes this year will be affected as several key figures remain to be determined. Among them, the Somerset County and Maine School Administrative District 54 budgets are not expected to be approved until May and June, respectively.

Voters approved using $550,000 unassigned fund balance — also known as surplus — to offset taxation.

Major categories in Norridgewock’s 2026 spending plan include $775,525 for public works; $503,550 for town administration; $345,100 for the fire department; $136,595 for public safety costs; and $96,115 for debt service on a sewer bond.

Included in this year’s budget are new stipends for a program director in the parks and recreation departments. The wages total $25,000: $18,000 under recreation and $7,000 under parks. There is also $710 budgeted for other payroll costs for the position.

In one of its few differences with the Select Board proposal, the Budget Committee had recommended against approving the parks portion of the stipend and the other related costs.

The spending plan approved Monday also includes $1,195,000 in requested capital reserve appropriations, $750,000 of which is for roads. In its other difference from the Select Board proposal, the Budget Committee had recommended a leaner figure of $1.05 million for capital reserves, reducing the roads appropriation by $100,000 and shaving off the amounts in lines for parks, public works equipment and public works building.

Capital accounts, as of Dec. 31, had a total balance of $2.72 million, budget figures show.

At the polls during the day, voters narrowly approved a new Ethics Ordinance and revisions to the Sewer Use Ordinance but rejected changes to the Subdivision Ordinance.

The Ethics Ordinance, passed 86-82, sets standards for employees and officials and outlines a process by which ethics complaints are reviewed and adjudicated. It does not allow for recalls of elected officials.

LaBelle said the Select Board decided to draft the ordinance based on internal and external feedback on expectations for board and committee members and how they handle potential conflicts of interest.

“In this day and age, when people want to see their government held more accountable, I think that this sets a pretty good groundwork for the people to do that,” LaBelle said.

The main change to the Sewer Use Ordinance aligns the town’s rules for sewer connections with state plumbing code, according to LaBelle. The amendments to that ordinance passed 90-71.

The proposed amendments to the Subdivision Ordinance, which voters rejected 74-85, were largely administrative changes intended to be a “realignment” with changes to state statute, LaBelle said.

All municipal elections on the ballot were uncontested; the five incumbent members of the Select Board were each reelected to one-year terms. Some posts, including sewer commissioner, budget committee member and library trustee, drew no declared candidates and were awarded to write-ins.

Full results are available on the Town of Norridgewock Facebook page.