Raymond selectmen approved a budget Tuesday that would cut funding for social services and eliminate a bulky waste program as part of an effort to cover a $250,000 gap without raising taxes.

The budget also includes the elimination of a part-time position and a 3 percent raise for town employees, which was the subject of a lengthy debate among selectmen.

In the end, Chairman Mike Reynolds said the board decided to continue its effort bring wages up to par with those offered by other towns and school systems.

The $3.7 million budget includes a cut of $107,914 in spending from last year’s budget, and also makes up for the anticipated loss of $151,427 in revenue, largely from drops in excise tax and code enforcement revenue. The budget maintains the current tax rate of $10.80 per $1,000 of valuation. The budget now goes to the finance committee before being placed on the warrant for the June 2 town meeting.

“This is the most difficult budget I’ve worked on in 27 years of doing municipal budgets,” said Town Manager Don Willard. It marks the fourth consecutive flat budget in Raymond, and officials are finding it increasingly difficult to find areas that can be cut while maintaining basic services, he said. “Now we have to look deeper and deeper into the budget.”

Reynolds said cutting funds traditionally earmarked for agencies like Southern Maine Agency on Aging, which received $1,950 last year, and the People’s Regional Opportunity Program, which got $5,500, was difficult, because those organizations rely on help from towns around the region.

“That was probably the hardest decision we had to make,” he said. “That is their life blood.”

The town will continue to give money to the “very local, very core” agencies and programs, like Raymond Extended Day, the food pantry and the library, Reynolds said.

Selectmen have talked about ending the payments in the past, and previously agreed not to add any new agencies to the list. Most communities do make some sort of payment to the groups, though they are not required to.

From his perspective, Reynolds said, there are perhaps agencies providing duplicative services, or services so specific as to be borderline wasteful. If towns are forced to cut payments because of the economy, maybe some of these groups will become more efficient, he said.

“We are paying a lot of administrators who are doing very, very specific jobs,” said Reynolds, without naming any specific organizations.

In eliminating the bulky waste program, the town will save roughly $50,000. If approved, residents will have to pay to dispose of such things as furniture, large appliances and brush, at a rate of around 10 cents a pound. The town is putting together a list of places where the materials can be disposed, Reynolds said.

The bulky waste program, which allowed residents to dispose of 500 pounds of bulky waste for $10, was used by only a limited number of residents, mostly contractors, Reynolds and Willard said.

“We tried to look at the stuff that was used by the most people,” said Reynolds. “Curbside pickup is used by almost everybody; bulky is not. That made it an easier choice.”

The budget also eliminates a part-time communications director position, held by John Hanley, who helped the town with its Web site and newsletter, Willard said. Those tasks will now be handled by other staff.

“He did a great job. It was nothing to do with his performance. We just had to find cuts,” said Willard.

Other town employees will get a 3 percent raise, though that was a difficult decision, Reynolds said. Raymond has been trying to bring its wages in line with other towns.

“We found ourselves way behind. We were losing people because of it,” Reynolds said.

In fact, the formula used for increasing wages called for a 4.3 percent raise, which the board adjusted downward considering the need to balance the budget, Reynolds said. Selectmen wanted to keep some increase, though, because they are asking the staff, down five or six employees from just a few years ago, to do more, and want to keep some institutional knowledge on hand.

Despite the cuts in the budget, Reynolds feels the town has accomplished its goal of maintaining core services – like road work and trash pickup – while keeping taxes down.

“I applaud Don and the staff. I don’t think a lot of Raymond citizens will notice a difference in services,” he said.