HERMON – Splitting the annual town meeting over the course of two days is here to stay.

Residents will vote today to fill the two open seats on the Town Council and the two on the school committee; then on Thursday, residents will gather to vote on the $14.7 million budget.

Last year the town decided to hold its annual meeting over two days and was pleased with the outcome.

“It worked well last year, and we will continue [to use that style] for quite a while,” Clint Deschene, town manager, said Monday. “We loved it last year, the people loved it, and this way we will know results from the elections before the meeting.”

The middle school gymnasium will be open today from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for residents to cast their votes for the state and municipal election. The results of the local elections will be announced during Thursday’s budget meeting, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the high school auditorium.

Three are seeking election to the school committee, while six hope to find a seat with the Town Council.

Tim Richardson Jr. and Donna Pulver’s school committee terms are expiring, with Pulver seeking re-election. Shelley Snow and Gail Tudor also are on the ballot as committee hopefuls.

On the municipal end, the three-year terms of Town Council Chairman Mike Guthrie and Councilor Alden Brown are expiring, but only Brown is seeking re-election. Five others join the race for the two council spots, including Larry Davis, Adam Leach, Theodore McLeod Jr., Steve Thomas and Meredith Young.

On Thursday, residents will be asked to approve the town’s proposed $14.7 million budget, $4,596,332 of which is to be raised by taxation. This year’s budget is up $1.2 million from the $13.5 million budget approved last year. The school budget comprises approximately $11.4 million of the town’s total budget.

Deschene estimates the mill rate will be approximately 14.5 mills, or $14.50 per $1,000 of valuation. Last year the rate was 14.25 mills, and Deschene emphasized that he did not anticipate the rate to change very much, but estimated high to be “on the safe side.”

“In all likelihood there will be no significant change in the mill rate, but we estimated 14.5 mills to be safe,” the town manager said.