Voters took cost-cutting measures a step further during town meeting Saturday morning, paring the proposed municipal budget by $30,000 instead of the originally planned $25,000.

Melvin Blaisdell, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the additional $5,000 cut from winter road maintenance helped voters bring the overall budget in at $572,838, $28,000 less than last year.

Blaisdell said the 50 voters – out of 800 registered – did their work in about an hour during the morning meeting at the Cornville Town Hall, where Kenneth Hogate served as moderator.

Blaisdell said the community maintains 48 miles of road in the winter, but this year town officials estimated they could get by with less money and continue to do the job right. The town is reimbursed by the state for its winter road work on Route 43 and West Ridge Road, Blaisdell said.

During the summer, he said, the town maintains only 25 miles of road and the rest is done by the state Department of Transportation. The summer road budget was approved at $75,000.

Some budget accounts increased, however. In administration, voters approved a 3 percent increase in the salaries of all town employees and a 38 percent increase for the town treasurer.

Blaisdell said the board had researched the salaries of treasurers in other towns the size of Cornville and found most were making at least $6,000. In Cornville, the 38 percent increase raised the treasurer's salary from $2,600 to $3,600.