WINDHAM – Windham’s proposed $14.13 million municipal budget for next year anticipates higher revenue from fees in 2014, thereby offering some relief for property taxpayers.

Town Manager Tony Plante presented his budget to the Town Council at Tuesday night’s meeting. Plante calls for 1.1 percent more spending than this year’s budget, but doesn’t increase property tax bills. Rescue fees, vehicle excise tax fees, commercial tax increment financing district revenues and building permit fees are forecasted to rise next year with the area’s recovering economy, offsetting the property tax obligation.

“There are some signs that things are getting a little bit better,” Plante said. “I think there’s a degree of weariness with the sluggish economy,” Plante said.

Plante organized his budget into two sections for councilors. The first section is a continuation of programs and services at this year’s levels. The second section, which Plante described as a supplemental budget, offers four spending options that would increase the budget should the council choose to add them to its budget.

“I was trying to distinguish between the things we’re already doing now and the level at which we’re doing them, from the things that are really outside that,” Plante said. “It’s making it clearer what I think the choices are rather than embedding them in the budget.”

The four supplemental options Plante calls for would address “existing or emerging” capital or service needs, he said. The four requests include:

• $181,000 to add two overnight rescue personnel at the North Windham Fire Station to handle a greater amount of emergency calls;

• $192,000 worth of roadwork, which would be matched by the Maine Department of Transportation, to add paved shoulders on Route 202 from Pope Road to Swett Road and repair Falmouth Road from Nash Road to Albion Road;

• $469,000 to fund Phase 1 improvements to the Donnabeth Lippman Park, located behind Sherwin Williams in North Windham. The council approved $17,500 worth of engineering for the Phase 1 project Tuesday night, and the $469,000 would pay for a dirt parking lot and dirt roadway into the park, as well as a playground, boardwalk, fishing dock on Chaffin Pond, trail improvements and a picnic area.

• $100,000 toward establishing a land and building improvement fund. Plante said, “It’s important that we start addressing some of the long-term needs” regarding the town’s lack of parks and playing fields and building maintenance. “So this request is intended to begin addressing our long-term capital facilities needs,” he added.

Plante said if the council approves his four supplemental requests, which add up to about $900,000, the tax levy limit of $607,000 would be exceeded and require a vote of residents at annual town meeting. (The Maine Legislature in 2005 established a property tax levy limit for towns. If a municipal or county body proposes new spending that exceeds the limit, residents need to approve the expenditure in a separate vote.)

State revenue sharing, which Gov. Paul LePage proposes to suspend for the next two years, was discussed at Tuesday’s meeting as well, in less dire terms than a February meeting in which Plante and department heads devised ways to cut more than a million dollars to make up for the loss of state revenue, which this year amounted to about $975,000.

After unveiling his budget on Tuesday, Plante said if the Legislature approved the governor’s proposal, the town would most likely cover the loss with surplus, also known as fund balance. The Town Council has a policy which keeps at least 16.6 percent of its total budget in fund balance. Plante said the fund balance is equal to about 18 percent of the school, county and municipal budgets, or about $5 million.

“One option would be to replace that [$975,000] for this coming year, either all or in part, with fund balance, even though that would put us out of compliance with our policy, but as a way of bridging the gap for this year and allowing us more time to make thoughtful choices about how to deal with a cut of that magnitude,” Plante said.

Plante said many political observers don’t expect the Legislature to approve the governor’s proposal, but he said the town needs to look at options should state revenue be withdrawn.

In coming weeks, the Town Council’s finance committee, made up of Matt Noel, Kevin Call and Peter Anania, will review Plante’s budget. The committee can delete spending proposals or bring forth new proposals of their own. The finance committee’s budget then goes to the full council for a vote. Residents weigh in on the final budget at the annual town meeting, which this year is scheduled for Saturday, June 15.