MOUNT DESERT – Local voters will get the chance to remove fluoride from the local drinking water supply and change the date of annual town meeting next week.

Mount Desert’s annual meeting starts the morning of Monday, March 5, with local elections and resumes at 6 p.m. the next day with a public session at the town’s elementary school in the village of Northeast Harbor.

The questions of fluoride in the drinking water and changing the annual town meeting date will be addressed through referendum on Monday, March 5. Polls will be open at the Somesville Fire House from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If residents vote “no” on whether to add fluoride to the public water supply in order to reduce tooth decay, the water district’s practice of doing so will be stopped.

Paul Slack, manager of the water district, has said there is evidence that fluoride is most effective when applied topically and that when swallowed, it can be bad for teeth and lead to health problems, especially for infants.

The proposal for changing the annual town meeting date would move it from the first Monday in March to the first Monday in May.

Town Manager Michael MacDonald has said that changing the annual meeting date, and the fiscal year that results, would put the town calendar more in synch with the school year and local education budget process.

On Tuesday, voters will consider an overall proposed budget of $12.1 million, which includes education costs. This figure represents a 3 percent increase over the current $11.8 million budget.

MacDonald said Thursday that the net increase to the municipal budget is projected to be only 0.59 percent.

It could end up being close to zero, however, if the town accepts $90,000 from Acadia National Park to help pay for its improved wastewater treatment plant in Seal Harbor.

Voters also will be asked to approve a measure that would make 2-1 votes by the selectmen legally binding if two of the board’s five members are unable to attend a meeting.

Other proposals include eliminating the ability to waive setback requirements and selling the former firehouse on Main Street in Northeast Harbor to the Great Harbor Maritime Museum for $1.

In elections, first selectman Rick Savage has decided not to seek another term after serving the past nine years on the board. Running unopposed for the vacant seat is James “Rick” Mooers. Selectman Jeff Smith also is running unopposed for re-election to his position.

Heather Jones and Brian Reilly are running for two school board seats being vacated by John March and Laura Hendricks. Michael Musetti, a school district trustee, is uncontested in his re-election bid for his seat.