Preston — Voters return to the polls Tuesday for the third attempt to pass 2019-20 town government and school budgets after two defeats earlier this summer.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Preston Plains Middle School at the corner of routes 164 and 2.

Following the July 9 referendum defeat, the Board of Finance cut $23,040 from the $3.89 million town government budget and $25,000 from the $12 million school budget. The board upped the amount proposed to be used from the town’s surplus fund to $650,000 to bring the proposed tax rate down to 26.43 mills, an increase of 0.4 mills over this year’s tax rate.

Most of the town budget increase would cover Fire Chief Tom Casey’s plan to hire enough per diem firefighters/EMTs to cover all shifts with at least two trained responders. Of the $374,639 total increase in the new proposed town budget, $240,779 would be for his proposed 200 percent increase in the emergency services budget. The Poquetanuck Ambulance Company has pledged to contribute $70,000 in revenues to the town to offset part of that increase.

In the school budget, school officials eliminated the proposed additional bus driver by combining bus routes and reduced the proposed new part-time social worker position from half time to 40 percent of a full-time position.

c.bessette@theday.com