OXFORD — A proposed 2008-09 budget of $36.78 million is headed to a May 21 referendum after residents at a town meeting reduced the spending plan by $15,000, eliminating funds earmarked for a fence around police headquarters.

The funds were unnecessary given the town's current fiscal situation, and the fence would not fit with the town's colonial image, First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers said after Monday's town meeting.

Now, the first selectman is actively pushing for passage of the budget that includes $12.29 million in municipal expenses and $24.13 million for the Board of Education.

"I am very hopeful that it will pass," Drayton-Rogers said. "Based on the input we've heard at the annual budget meeting and from residents in general, there's support for the budget and an understanding for less than a one-mill increase." She added, "I think there's been a lot of cooperation between the boards and we're trying to present a budget that people can accept the first time around."

Polls in the May 21 referendum will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Quaker Farms School, 30 Great Oak Road. Voters will also consider spending $350,000 for improvements to Park and Loughlin roads. Drayton-Rogers said residents should support the proposed spending package because it amounts to a tax increase of less than one mill. Should all three spending requests pass, the tax rate would rise to 20.33 mills, up from this year's rate of 19.37 mills.

For a home with a taxable value

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of $250,000, the tax bill would be $5,082. Last year voters went to the polls six times before approving a $34.7 million budget in October. This will be the first year residents will consider the municipal and schools budgets independently. Copies of the proposed budget are available at Town Hall, 486 Oxford Road, or www.oxford-ct.gov.

Melvin Mason, who covers the Naugatuck Valley, can be reached at 736-5440.