ORONO — The Town Council will take up a number of crucial issues when it meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Asa C. Adams School gymnasium.

On tap are public hearings on the proposed 1996-97 budget, a Community Development Block grant for downtown improvements, and the formal adoption of an E-911-related ordinance expected to affect more than half of the addresses in town.

A summary of the proposed 1996-97 municipal and school budgets reflects increased expenditures and decreased revenue projections, a combination that bodes ill for the property taxpayers who must pick up the slack.

As it stands, the proposed 1996-97 budget calls for $9,697,506 in expenditures for municipal and school operations, which is $544,728 more than this year. Of the total, $4,627,160 is for municipal needs and $5,070,346 is for education.

Orono expects to receive $4,668,376 in town and school revenues. While the school system’s income is expected to grow by more than $81,000, the more than $127,000 drop on the town side will result in an overall decrease of $46,202 from this year.

The $5,029,130 to be raised through taxes is $590,930 more than this year. However, Town Manager Gerald Kempen said that the net impact was softened somewhat by reducing the overlay, which means the actual increase is $512,048, not $590,930.

If the budget is passed as it stands, property taxes in Orono will increase 11.27 percent, from this year’s $20.85 per $1,000 in valuation to $23.20 per $1,000.

The prospects of this year’s leap in taxes has prompted a group of about eight local taxpayers to launch a petition calling for a 5 percent cap on the property tax increase in any one year.

Anthony Worster, spokesman for the petitioners, said that there would be an escape clause. The council would retain the right to revoke the cap under “extreme circumstances,” but only after a public hearing and only with the approval of two-thirds of the full council. He added that the cap could not be revoked in any two consecutive years.

The adoption of the budget, which will become effective on July 1, is tentatively scheduled for Monday, June 17.

The council also is expected to adopt an ordinance that would help emergency personnel more quickly locate properties to which they are called.

More than half of Orono’s addresses are expected to undergo some change when the ordinance is implemented, Kempen projected.

While the changes might be an inconvenience to those whose addresses are printed on checks and stationery, the idea is to eliminate the potential for confusion.

Under the ordinance, no two roads would have the same names, such as Pine Road and Pine Lane, or similar sounding names, such as Beech Street and Peach Street. Roads would have the same name throughout their entire length, and roads that are not continuous would have separate names.

Numbers would be assigned every 50 feet, perhaps less in densely developed areas, with even numbers on the left side and odd numbers on the right side.

Buildings with more than one occupant, such as apartment buildings, will have one number, with letters for each occupancy.

The ordinance would not apply to the University of Maine campus, except for buildings that front on town streets.

Affected residents will be notified at least 30 days before the changes in street name or house number take effect.

The councilors also will accept comment on the downtown improvement grant.

Orono has been invited to the second round of applications for CDBG funding. Its proposal seeks $265,400 for the reconstruction of the Pine Street parking lot, the expansion of the Bennoch Road parking lot, and improvements to sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian flows. It also would enable the town to help merchants improve building facades.