Stonington — The Board of Finance approved a proposed 2015-16 budget Wednesday that calls for a 0.92-mill tax rate increase.

The $61.1 million budget calls for an approximately $2.5 million or 4.5 percent increase compared to the current budget. The current budget resulted in a 0.55 mill tax hike.

Before it began cutting the budget this week, the finance board was facing a 2.4-mill hike in the tax rate. The finance board has slated a public hearing on the budget for April 14. It will then finalize a budget to send to a referendum vote.

The finance board had asked the town and school system to keep their budget increases to less than 2.5 percent.

The finance board cut the proposed $36.1 million school budget and its $1.8 million increase by $803,000. Superintendent of Schools Van Riley said he will present the school board with options about how to cut the money from the budget at a special meeting next Tuesday.

The $1 million increase will cover raises for teachers and administrators, which total $1,045,382. But the school system also faces large increases in utilities ($546,060), and special education tuition and transportation ($551,441).

Last year, more than 500 hundred people packed the finance board public hearing and called on the finance board to restore all of the $525,000 it cut from the school budget’s original $1 million increase. The board restored $270,000 of the $525,000.

The $24.4 million general government budget, which includes the town’s debt, calls for a $1.3 million increase. The $1.3 million capital improvement budget would increase about $87,000.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas