Preston — The Board of Finance voted 4-2 Thursday to cut the proposed 2016-17 school budget by a half percent to a new total of $11.3 million, a 4.5 percent increase over this year's budget, and approved a proposed town budget of $3.4 million with only slight cuts.

Both budgets will be presented to voters at a public hearing April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Preston Veterans' Memorial School.

The Board of Finance will hold a special meeting following the hearing to set the final proposed budget for a town meeting.

The discussion briefly turned to a debate Thursday after several residents in the crowded Town Hall meeting room asked the finance board to keep the full proposed $11.4 million proposed school budget, with its 5 percent increase.

Residents asked how the finance board derived its total and whether the Board of Finance would use some of the town's healthy $2.8 million surplus fund to offset any possible tax increase.

Residents said the Board of Finance should present both the full proposed school budget and the requested $3.57 million proposed town budget to voters to the public hearing before making changes to either budget.

Board of Finance Chairman Norman Gauthier cited a history by the Board of Education of funding nonbudgeted items after a budget is approved, including enacting full-day preschool in January 2015, the purchase of a pickup truck and a new fence.

Gauthier initially proposed cutting the school budget by 1 percent, to $11.28 million, but the motion failed 3-3. The second motion to cut the increase to 4.5 percent was approved 4-2, with members Kenneth Zachem and Andy Bilodeau voting against the proposal.

The Board of Finance had more difficulty reviewing First Selectman Robert Congdon's initial proposed town budget totaled $3.47 million, a 4.3 percent increase over this year.

About $83,000 of the increase reflected the reduced state share of covering salaries for the town's two resident state troopers.

Unlike with the school budget, the Board of Finance has line item control over the town government budget.

But a proposal to cut $150,000 from the town budget — essentially to cut one resident state trooper and $12,000 in the Parks and Recreation Department budget to cover Canada geese at Preston Community Park — failed 3-3.

A plan to cut just the $12,000 also failed 3-3 before passing 4-2 after the board also removed $100,000 for an upcoming revaluation.

That funding already was budgeted in the capital nonrecurring account, Congdon told the board.

The proposed budgets would require a tax rate of 26.31 mills.

Board of Finance member Jerry Grabarek suggested using $400,000 of the town surplus fund to offset the tax increase, bringing the proposed tax rate to cover the town and school budgets at 24.98 mills.

That plan was approved unanimously.

c.bessette@theday.com