Selectman Michael Freda hasn't made up his mind about this year's budget proposal, but he told about 70 residents at Tuesday night's public budget hearing that he should be able to come to a decision within the next week.

Freda wasn't the only one with questions and several residents expressed disappointment in the low turnout.

Earlier in the evening, nearly 250 people turned out to vote to approve a $250,000 appropriation for the Board of Education to cover unexpected expenses in special education costs.

After a debate that essentially boiled down to a general complaint about unfunded or under funded mandates from the state, the appropriation passed by a vote of 223-9. Residents, for the most part, did not blame the Board of Education for the overrun, since it resulted from the state and court's requirement that the town pay for special education outplacement of resident children.

"The state requires that we cover the cost of educating these children," Superintendent Sara-Jane Querfeld said. The town had several students additionally out placed later in the year that weren't in the budget because they came later.

In opening the hearing on the overall budget, Board of Finance Chairman Dean Volain told residents the "consensus of the board was that there are no more cuts to make to this budget without affecting services."

"We could not possibly give all the departments everything they asked for without a massive tax increase," he added. "We can address things little by little, walk before we run."

The total proposed budget is for the 2008-09 fiscal year is $82.8 million, an increase of 6.7 percent over last year's budget.

The town budget is $38.7 million, the education budget is $42.2 million and $1.6 million for capital projects. There is also a $300,000 contingency fund.

The $1.6 million will come from the unallocated fund balance and that plan was perhaps the biggest point of contention among residents including Freda.

The unallocated fund balance, essentially the town's savings account, currently contains $8.7 million, according to Freda. The town proposes to use $1.6 million for capital improvements that have been deferred for many years and another $1.8 million is allocated for debt service, which spiked this year but is expected to decrease next year.

That would leave $5.3 million in savings, said Freda,.

"I believe this presents a problem for the future because we won't be able to draw that balance down any further," he said. "It could put the town on a negative credit watch for the future and that could cause our bond rating to drop. We need to be very cautious going forward."

"The town doesn't have to use the fund balance," said Volain. "That's okay if the people don't want to do that. I just want to be very clear that if we don't use it, there will be more of a tax increase."

Volain pointed out that every line item in the budget "is the same as or more than what we spent last year, and that's a new thing. In years past, you'd see line items drop by drastic amounts, then later in the year we'd have to make up the difference. In this budget, everything is funded at least at the amount we spent last year. There are no surprises."

Resident Robert Wexler agreed.

"This is definitely a much more honest budget than I've seen in the past," he said.

In addition to questions about spending from the fund balance, several residents and firefighters questioned the board's decision to eliminate a request to add a paramedic division to the fire department.

"North Haven is the only paid fire department in New Haven county without paramedics," said Jeff Obier, union president of the fire department. "Everyone we've spoken to agrees we need to have this program and I ask the board to reconsider their decision."

The Board of Finance will hold a meeting next week to review comments and concerns from residents and possibly make some budget adjustments based on the hearing, said First Selectman Janet M. McCarty.

McCarty and Volain said the town would work to post answers to residents questions on the town's Web site and, if requested, McCarty said "we'll get you a hard copy by mail."

There will be an annual town meeting to review the budget at North Haven High School Monday, May 12 and a townwide referendum to vote on the budget Tuesday, May 20.