WOOLWICH

At their annual town meeting Wednesday evening, Woolwich residents will consider a 43-article warrant that, if approved in its entirety, would generate a 2012-13 municipal budget of nearly $1.5 million — up just $1,103 from last year.

“We’ve kept a pretty barebones budget,” Town Administrator Lynette Eastman said Monday.

If all warrant articles are approved on Wednesday, the new municipal budget would total $1,484,201 — up from $1,483,098 in 2011.

The municipal budget only makes up one of several pieces of that budget, however. Woolwich’s share of the proposed $7.6 million Sagadahoc County budget is slated to be $651,265 — up 35,801, according to Eastman.

And the town is scheduled to pay just more than $3.1 million to Regional School Unit 1, the school district that provides public education to Arrowsic, Bath, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich.

The figure is up $62,476 — far less than the increase Woolwich thought it would see prior to an April 23 vote by the RSU 1 board of directors to change the regional school district’s cost-sharing formula.

The Board of Selectmen also recommends drawing $800,000 from the town’s surplus funds — the same amount as in 2011 — to reduce the tax commitment.

Due to increases in the county and school budgets, the current property tax rate of $12.57 per $1,000 valuation will increase regardless of an increase in valuation, Eastman said Monday, but the final rate for next year won’t be finalized until September when the town’s valuation is completed.

Also on Wednesday’s warrant, Article 19 asks voters whether to provide Patten Free Library with its requested funding of $49,203 — up from $43,696 requested in 2011.

Eastman said the library requested more from Woolwich this year because, according to Patten Free Library representatives, there were 1,440 active card users in Woolwich in the last two years, and the town’s population increased — to 3,072 — in the 2010 census.

Eastman said residents also would consider whether to allow a building committee to make a presentation during Wednesday’s meeting about a proposed addition to the town office.

The draft warrant initially included an article considering funding the addition, but Eastman said that following the most recent in a series of public meetings about the proposed addition, “they decided to step back.”

Wednesday’s town meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the fire station.