Falmouth is pitching a $21.08 million municipal budget and $52.37 million school budget for the next fiscal year, which starts in July.

Under the proposal, residents would face an overall 3.2% increase in their property tax bills. On an $850,000 house, a homeowner would expect to pay about $340 more in taxes – or $60 more for the town and $280 more for education.

The proposed mil rate for the school budget increased 3.33%, with a 2.48% increase for the town budget. This is a lower increase than prior years, but more closely resembles the average increase in Falmouth over the past decade, according to Town Manager Nathan Poore. For the current fiscal year, the combined budget increased property tax rates by 5.8%.

“Part of the council’s concern going into this budget was to slow down the larger increases that we’ve had the last couple of years, and we did that,” said Poore.

The biggest changes in the proposed town budget were in the Public Safety Department, which has a proposed budget of $10.20 million. In addition to emergency response union payroll increases, a new patrol police officer position was added. The position will have a salary of $87,975.

“We are below where we should be for patrol coverage,” said Falmouth Police Chief John Kilbride.

The town has not added a patrol officer to the Falmouth police force in decades, said Kilbride. Currently operating with at least two always patrolling the roads, the department hopes to increase the patrol to a minimum of three officers on the road over the next few years to match the town’s growth.

Some town staff salaries and benefits were moved over to coming out of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) budget this year in order to keep the tax increase low. This will limit finances that can be spent on capital projects years down the road, said Poore.

“So it seems like an easy fix sometimes for the budget, but it’s still a cut,” said Poore.

Also included in the budget was a way to address waste disposal financial shortcomings discussed by the Town Council. To make up for the pay-as-you-throw program not paying for itself due to misuse, $205,000 was allocated to recoup the differences in cost. To potentially remedy the lack of compliance, $15,000 was proposed for a trash audit that will take place in the coming months.

Of the proposed school budget, 83% will go toward salaries and benefits for the Falmouth schools’ over 500 employees. There were no new funding requests for this fiscal year.

The Town Council will host a public hearing on the project on April 9, with opportunity for public comment. The council is scheduled to vote to approve the budget on April 28.