DRESDEN — Town voters shot down a proposed change to move annual Town Meetings to Tuesday nights while approving just over $1 million in spending.

Town Administrator Michael Henderson said 35 people attended the 90-minute meeting Saturday morning at the Dresden Fire Station. The meeting was moderated by Jeffrey Pierce.

After one budget change on the floor, the proposed spending plan was about $42,806 more than the budget approved in 2019.

The $1,031,798 in spending reflects higher anticipated costs for building maintenance, solid waste hauling and ambulance services.

Selectman Allan Moeller made one change on the town meeting floor to reduce the highway budget by $17,194. Henderson said the change stems from a reduction in a plowing contract with Goodall Landscaping, lowering the cost of their service to $200,000.

The spending is expected to be paid for with property taxes, $199,100 from state revenue sharing, Maine Department of Transportation block grants and a reimbursement from the state of Maine on the Homestead exemption, among other sources.

Voters rejected an article that would have moved future Town Meetings from Saturday morning to Tuesday night. Of those responding to a town survey on the matter, Tuesday night emerged as the preference. Henderson said Town Meeting attendees said they did not receive the survey, before eventually voting the article down.

Voters approved other policy changes, including one that shifts penalty fees assessed under Dresden’s Land Use Ordinance and site plan review fees into the Planning Board expense account. It would also carry forward any unspent funds from last year’s account into a Planning Board expense account to be used by the board for future expenses for land use regulation and the board.

The property tax rate in Dresden is $18.80 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The property tax rate for the new budget year will be calculated later this summer, and will reflect the Lincoln County and Regional School Unit 2 assessments.

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