Norwich — Town officials have presented the Selectboard with a budget proposal including a modest increase over the current year’s spending, but also are warning that property taxes could be affected by repair costs related to a July 1 storm.

With no major changes to town services, the proposal factors in increases to employee pay and higher costs from health insurance, leading to an overall spending increase of $62,000, or about 1.3 percent, according to Town Manager Herb Durfee.

That number also includes outside expenditures of about $360,000 that include the operational costs to run the town library.

“It’s basically saying that, based on the success of the budget package in the recent past, I think voters have been satisfied with existing levels of services and staffing,” Durfee said in an interview on Tuesday.

In a Nov. 8 budget summary to the Selectboard, Durfee also noted that the town each year uses carried-over funds from the most recent budget to help set the tax rate — a practice that he said could see some disruption due to road repair costs incurred during a July 1 storm.

The storm system that swept over the region this past summer caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage, some but not all of which may be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and by state agencies.

“The July 1 storm is a big concern because even though a lot of that is going to be reimbursed from FEMA, there’s still 12.5 percent of that that we’re responsible for,” Durfee said. “It’s kind of a short-term cash flow situation that we have to be cautious of.”

The Selectboard in October voted to authorize $1.8 million for contracted road repairs, and $500,000 more was spent for emergency repairs immediately after the storm.

Durfee said officials might decide to open a line of credit to help finance the work while the town waits for reimbursement.

If no surplus money is available, then the overall tax levy — not the tax rate — could increase by as much as 7.5 percent, Durfee said, although he also cautioned that this was the worst-case scenario and that the town was still waiting on much of the information that it uses to calculate taxes.

The Selectboard is scheduled to discuss the budget proposal during a special meeting tonight at 5:30 in Tracy Hall.

Selectman Steve Flanders said speculation about the storm’s potential tax impact would be misplaced during Wednesday’s meeting.

Flanders noted on Tuesday that the budget covers recurring operational expenses, whereas the storm damage has presented the town with one-time costs that officials may choose to cover with separate spending articles at the 2018 Town Meeting, he said.

“At this point it’s all speculative,” he said in an email. “Wednesday, we’re talking about the budget, not about the possible future tax rate.”

Operational expenses are projected to see little change, with the Public Works Department’s budget falling by about $29,000 and long-term debt service rising by about $50,000 as principal payments kick in for the town’s public safety bond.

Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.