North Stonington — A special town meeting to discuss the latest budget proposal for the current fiscal year will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at North Stonington Elementary School.

The latest numbers for the Board of Finance's fourth budget proposal are available on the town's website. The general government operating, debt and capital budget is set at about $5.9 million, and the school budget is set at about $12.1 million.

The latest proposal of just under $18.1 million overall represents a $359,696 cut from the last proposal of about $18.4 million – a 1.95 percent decrease.

The school budget remains untouched, as planned, from the last proposal, while the government operating, debt and capital budgets together have been cut from July's proposal of about $6.3 million. Specifically, the proposed general government operating budget is $4,476,953, cut from $4,577,997; the proposed debt budget is $1,209,718, cut from $1,484,370; and the capital budget is $291,727, up from the last proposal of $175,727.

The property tax rate has been set at 25.25 – up from the most recently proposed 24.25 – though a note on the latest budget document indicates that the Board of Finance will adjust the rate down to 23.75 in December prior to January tax bills. The board had previously set the mill rate at 24.25.

Also to be discussed and voted on at the special meeting is a proposal to lengthen the referendum hours to 6 a.m. through 8 p.m. from the previous noon through 8 p.m.

The next budget referendum is scheduled for Oct. 22.