CARMEL – Residents will vote next week on a town budget that represents an 8 percent increase over last year and includes a proposal to replace the Haskell Road bridge.

But first voters will fill two seats on the Board of Selectmen and one position on the SAD 23 board of directors.

Voting for municipal offices will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at Golden Harvest Grange.

The annual town meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 7, at the Carmel Elementary School gymnasium. Voters will decide between the selectmen’s proposed budget of $1,263,622 and the budget committee’s recommended $1,129,962 budget.

The selectmen’s figure represents an 8 percent increase over last year’s budget and would mean an increase of $104,198 in the town’s tax commitment.

The $133,660 discrepancy between the two budgets results primarily from a proposal to replace the Haskell Road bridge at a cost of $100,000. The selectmen have recommended the replacement, but the budget committee does not support the project.

Another discrepancy results from a plan to build an addition to the boiler room, fire station and storage area. The selectmen recommend spending $33,400 on the renovation, while the budget committee suggests spending $12,500 for a smaller room.

Among the other budget items is a request for $250,000 in capital improvement funding as part of the town’s long-term road construction program. That figure is in addition to the overall $425,100 budget for public roads, up approximately 8 percent over last year.

In municipal office elections, voters will fill two seats on the Board of Selectmen and one position on the SAD 23 board of directors. All of the positions are three-year terms.

Five residents are running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen: Chairman Jay Deane, Selectwoman Suzan Rudnicki, former Selectman John Luce, Mike Mellott and Peter Pelletier.

Voters will fill the expiring positions of Deane and Rudnicki.

For the school board, board member Lawrence “Pat” Webber is running uncontested for his expiring seat.