Topsham voters approved a $9.3 million budget for 2016-17 and $1.3 million bond for vehicle purchases with little fanfare at the annual Town Meeting on Wednesday night at Mt. Ararat High School.

They spent the most time at the two-hour meeting arguing over whether the spring due date for taxes should be moved from mid- April to March in 2017.

The town manager had asked selectmen to consider moving up the payment date when the town starts having cash flow challenges because of its one-lump payment due to the county, requiring staff to hold off on most spending. Selectman David Douglass warned the town could be forced to borrow money at some point for a 30-day period to finance its operations.

Residents spoke of the potential hardships the switch could make without having more time to plan for the change. One argument was that many wait for their tax refund to put it toward their property tax bill. Another resident said those with escrow accounts set up to make property tax payments could have trouble.

“Leave the tax date the same,” resident Guy Erdmann said.

Select woman Ruth Lyons said while selectmen had lengthy debate at meetings and public hearings, she wanted the date moved back to April.

“I don’t think we’ve done enough marketing and letting the residents know so they can prepare,” Lyons said. “I do think we have to market it better and let people know.”

Resident Curtis Picard suggested the town offer an incentive to residents by offering a discount for paying taxes early to help solve the problem.

An amendment by finance committee member Mike Whitney to article 17 to move the date from March 15 to March 31 failed after debate. Douglass immediately made a second motion to amend the article and replace the March 15 date with April 18, which passed by a majority of votes.

All 22 articles passed. The municipal budget, along with the estimated school and county assessments, would result in an estimated tax rate increase of 60 cents per $1,000 of assessed value — or an additional $120 on the tax bill for a home assessed at $200,000. Town Manager Rich Roedner said it is likely when the tax commitment is made in August that a lower tax rate could result.

There were 85 residents at the meeting out of 7,045 registered voters in town — a 1.2 percent turnout.

dmoore@timesrecord.com