East Lyme — The Board of Finance voted Monday to send a proposed 2015-16 budget that is 3.12 percent more than the current budget to town meeting on May 11.

The overall proposed budget for 2015-16, including both town and education, stands at $67,145,328. 

The vote kept the budget mostly as presented at a public hearing earlier in the evening, except for a small change. About 50 residents, including Board of Education members and selectmen, attended the hearing in which some residents opposed a raise in taxes, while others spoke in support of the education budget.

The education budget stands at $44,033,080, or a 2.9 percent increase, following previous cuts to the increase from the Board of Education and the Board of Finance.

"Education is not the place to look to, to make the cuts," said resident Maia Vargas.

Teachers' salaries were a common topic at the hearing, among some residents and the president of the East Lyme teachers' union. Former Superintendent James Lombardo said that East Lyme is below other schools and the area and last in its educational reference group in terms of teacher pay, which has been affecting the district in recent years.

Other residents spoke in opposition of the budget and said that that they can't afford to live in town and that the area has not yet recovered from the recession.

Karen Rak said she opposed the budget and the economic indicators show this is "not the time or the place to have an increase." She listed both national and local statistics on poverty and said the number of students on free lunches has risen over the past years.

"We've had an increase in people going into poverty, actually, in East Lyme," she said.

Other residents, such as Ron Rando, suggested that the town privatize certain departments, such as water and sewer, and that the school district regionalize.

At the special Board of Finance meeting following the hearing, the Board of Finance reduced the amount of fund balance it will use to offset the increase in taxes by $100,000.

The board also cut the money to be spent on unspecified town projects by $25,000.

Board member Beth Hogan said she would be in favor of allocating an additional $100,000 to the budget, if the school district would use it to end "the narrative" of low teacher pay in East Lyme.

Some Board of Finance members said they could not dictate to the school district how they would spend the funds, but the school board could later come up with a plan and ask the Board of Finance for additional funds.

Board of Finance Chairman Stephen Harney said it's on ongoing conversation.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich