Without the declines in revenue some towns are experiencing, Casco residents may see a decrease in the portion of their property tax going to the town this year.

While Casco Town Manager David Morton said he wasn’t sure yet what the town side of the tax rate would be for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, he expects it to go down. This year residents paid $2.20 per $1,000 in assessed property value for town services, and an additional $7.30 to cover the school and county budgets.

The Finance Committee, which also acts as the town’s budget committee, is in the process of reviewing the proposed $2.7 million town budget, which would be a decrease of almost $18,000 from the 2009 budget. The committee’s next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 18, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Fire Station. The committee, which is strictly advisory, will likely make recommendations to selectmen by the end of April, Morton said.

Casco will likely be spared the large drop in revenue some other towns are struggling with, according to Morton’s predictions. He expected non-property tax revenue to drop by less than $1,000. Though Morton expected revenue from excise taxes to drop by $45,000 and investment income to fall by $20,000, some increases will make up for the loss, such as an increase in rescue fees and welfare reimbursement.

This doesn’t mean the budget season in Casco will be easy, however. Chairman of the Finance Committee Holly Hancock said she thought this would be the toughest out of her five years on the committee.

“The economy is in tough shape, so we will have to look at what we can fund,” Hancock said. She added, “It’s never easy. There’s never enough money.”

One of the larger cuts in the budget would be $25,000 less for paving. Morton said this cut was one that residents might notice, adding that the cost of paving roads rose with the cost of fuel, but when fuel prices went down, paving did not. On average, town roads go seven to 10 years between being paved, Morton said, but some roads go longer.

Some cuts in the budget were made possible by changes already made this year. By switching from Naples dispatch to Cumberland County dispatch, completed Jan. 1, the town will save $32,000 in the upcoming year. Changing to a coupon system for the bulky waste facility made it possible to cut $40,000 from the budget for that facility, which is jointly owned by Casco and Naples.

These were some of the cuts that made it possible to add several expenses and still lower the total budget. The proposed budget would put aside $20,000 to study regionalization of public safety services, continuing a discussion between representatives from Casco, Naples, Raymond and Gray.

New capital improvement accounts would include $45,000 for the Casco Memorial School, which School Administrative District 61 has closed and plans to turn over to the town, and $15,000 towards a future property tax revaluation. Selectmen hoped putting aside money now would help the town decrease the number of years between revaluations, Morton said.

The Finance Committee has met once with three new members, who were added after selectmen decided to remove the town manager and two selectmen as voting members of the committee.

“Everything that the town does will come up in discussion, especially with new members,” Hancock said, adding that the wider the range of people looking at the budget, the more viable it will be in the end.