Preston — Residents can vote today in a referendum on the proposed 2022-23 town and school budgets.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Preston Plains Middle School, 1 Route 164. The Board of Finance will hold a special meeting at the school following the vote results.

Residents at the June 9 town meeting voted to send both budgets to the referendum unchanged. The proposed school budget is $13.45 million, with a 7.8% spending increase. The town government budget totals $4.5 million, an 8.6% spending increase over this year.

The Board of Finance is considering using $850,000 in town surplus funds to offset most of a potential tax increase. If the budgets are approved, based on revenue projections received in late May, the required tax rate would be 27.99 mills, an increase of 1.05 mills over this year’s tax rate.

According to the town budget presentation document, for a homeowner with a house assessed at $175,000, taxes under the proposed budget would increase by $183 next year, from $4,715 to $4,898.

— Claire Bessette