Montville - Before the town council's finance subcommittee entertains any arguments by department heads regarding their budgets, it must first determine, as best as possible, its revenues for the next fiscal year.

During a meeting Tuesday night, Councilor Howard "Russ" Beetham said before he meets with departments and the school board he wants to know how much money the town could have in the next fiscal year.

Finance Director Theresa Fafard said the state is dispersing grants to towns later than it has in the past, with some significant funding coming in during the months of May and June last year.

She expects the timing to be similar this year.

Still, Beetham said the roughly $11 million difference between the town's current revenues and what is needed to balance the proposed 2010-11 budget is "a big chunk to make up."

Subcommittee members will meet on May 4 at 4:30 p.m. at the Town Hall to review the revenue projections for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Once the group has determined the best estimate for revenue, it will begin reviewing the proposed expenditures.

Subcommittee Chairman Gary Murphy said he has tentatively scheduled the school board to meet with the group on May 6 to discuss the proposed $36.62 million education budget approved by the board in February. The group will also discuss a $353,400 reduction made to the request by the mayor.

After meeting with school officials, subcommittee members will meet in the coming weeks with various Town Hall departments, the Water Pollution Control Authority, volunteer fire companies and the police department.

Prior to discussing how to proceed with the 2010-11 budget review Tuesday night, subcommittee members approved a request to increase the emergency dispatchers part-time line item for 2010-11 by $26,000. This will enable two dispatchers to be on duty from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. to answer fire, police and emergency 911 phone calls.

m.bard@theday.com