POWNAL – Residents of Pownal will see a modest increase in property tax rates for fiscal year 2013-2014, according to a recently recommended municipal spending plan by the town’s Board of Selectmen.

If approved by Pownal residents during their annual town meeting June 5, the budget, not including yet-to-be-determined revenue sharing and other funds from the state, would result in a 6.28 percent increase in property taxes for the roughly 1,500 residents of the town.

“The town side of the budget is less than a half a percent (increase), but the county tax is 7 and the school is 9 percent,” said Pownal Administrative Assistant Scott Seaver.

The proposed budget comes in at $3,106,292, a $183,652 increase from this year’s municipal spending plan of $2,922,640.

The budget committee’s numbers show a $15,324 increase in funding for general government and $67,000 increase in the capital accounts from the 2012-2013 budget.

“It (the increase in general government) had to do with bookkeeping,” said Pownal Selectman Alfred Fauver. “We used to have a line for payroll taxes, but we’re not carrying that as a separate line now and have shifted the cost into the general fund.”

The bump in capital accounts is an anticipated increase in the first year of a three-year spending plan that includes town infrastructure improvement projects.

“The capital committee has gone through a long process, which they’ve been frustrated with,” said Seaver. “If they wanted to fund everything that was on the plan, that would have been up around $300,000, but they’ve cut it back to cover the first year of a three-year plan.”

The proposed cost of the town’s Public Works Department is down $20,073, due to an agreement between Durham and Pownal to share the cost of a road commissioner, Shawn Bennett, said Seaver. Durham residents recently approved the creation of a town-run Public Works department, but Bennett is expected to maintain his dual role in the coming fiscal year.

“We are netting out the contribution Durham is giving us back,” said Seaver. “We’re budgeting for a salary amount and Durham is picking up 60 percent of that, so we’ve only got 40 percent of it in here, which is a big difference the way we budgeted last year,” said Seaver, referring to the 2012-2013 Public Works cost of $601,432.

Other proposed spending increases include $11,061 for public safety, according to the budget summary prepared by the committee. The Pownal budget committee reviewed the selectmen’s recommendations during a May 8 meeting and have agreed with the proposals, said both Seaver and Fauver.

“Other than the few increases, it’s a pretty benign budget,” said Seaver.