For the first time Tuesday, Westbrook voters will decide whether the budget for the city’s schools is the best one for its citizens.

Along with the primary for the 1st District congressional seat and a $29.7 million state bond request, residents will receive a ballot asking for their approval of the $31 million 2008-2009 Westbrook school budget. Previously, final approval of the school budget came from the City Council, which passed the budget at a meeting Monday. The addition of a citizen so-called “budget validation” vote comes from the state’s sweeping school consolidation plan, passed by the Legislature in June 2007.

Though many school districts, including Westbrook, did not merge, the law still applies to all school departments. According to Superintendent Stan Sawyer, the state thought it would make the process “more transparent.”

The school budget will go to voters for the next three years. After that, citizens will be able to vote whether to eliminate holding a school budget referendum every year.

Meanwhile, Westbrook schools will continue looking for ways to consolidate resources with other districts. According to Sawyer, Westbrook is looking into consolidating food and transportation services with Windham over the next couple of years.

City Clerk Lynda Adams advised voters to educate themselves on their way into the polling center, where the budget will be posted on the doors and broken down into cost centers.

“There are no figures,” Adams said about what’s actually on the ballot. “It’s just a yes or no question.”

The total budget is $31 million which represents a 5.83 percent increase over the current school budget and a 1.4 percent increase in the local allocation of taxes. According to Sawyer, these numbers translate to an increase of about $10 in taxes paid to the school over this year for the average Westbrook citizen who owns a $200,000 home.

“I wish it was zero,” Sawyer said about the budget increase, “but I think we’ve done a good job.”

Sawyer said he doesn’t think a lot of people are aware the new school budget process requires voter approval and hopes that the people who do come out to vote is representative of the city’s entire population.

“It’s a little scary if you have very few people turn out,” Sawyer said. In school budget votes that have already occurred in the state, Sawyer said, the average turnout has been around 5 percent of the population.

Adams said the city decided to hold the school budget vote at the same time as the legislative primary, with the hope that there will be more voters.

If the budget is not passed by the voters, the School Committee and the City Council will have to review, adjust and vote on the budget again, before holding another referendum. According to Adams, having to hold a special election for a second vote would cost the town around $5,000.

“It’s a lot of work,” she said. “It would be an added expense to Westbrook taxpayers.”