HAMPDEN – The town of Hampden will survive if the Palesky tax cap initiative is passed on Nov. 2.

That was the message Monday night at a public meeting of school and town officials from SAD 22, which includes Hampden, Newburgh and Winterport, held at Reeds Brook Middle School.

“The good news is that we will survive,” Mayor Rick Briggs said. “We really don’t have a lot of debt compared to other communities.”

The overriding sentiment Monday, however, is common to virtually every other municipality in the state: Severe cuts would be made to services, school programs and personnel.

“The net effect to Hampden is a 50 percent reduction,” Town Manager Susan Lessard said, adding that the town budget will be slashed from $5.4 million, last year’s figure, to $2.7 million under the cap.

Hampden’s town office would be open only part time, the police force would be cut in half, and the town’s five full-time firefighters and emergency medical services workers would be lost, according to Lessard. The Edythe Dyer Library, pool and recreation program would be eliminated or funded by user fees, and public transportation would be cut, she said.

“If you’d need a service from the town of Hampden, you’d be prepared to wait a while,” Briggs said.

Nancy Hatch, Newburgh town manager, said almost all services would be cut, while Winterport Selectman Stephen Cooper worried over the loss of needed personnel like crossing guards.

The Palesky initiative would cap property taxes at 1 percent, or $10 per $1,000 of assessed property value for residents and businesses.

The SAD 22 school board has agreed to its own cuts to absorb some of the tax cap, if it passes. They plan to eliminate full-day kindergarten, cut 50 jobs, and implement user fees for bussing, athletic programs and buildings, according to Superintendent Rick Lyons.

Hampden Academy students heard about the potential negative ramifications of the Palesky proposal earlier Monday when Lyons and Assistant Superintendent Emil Genest addressed the combined history classes of teachers David King and Kathryn King, who are married.

“These are things our young adults need to be aware of. Who’s it going to affect most in the public schools? These kids right here,” Lyons said in an interview before class.

Most of the 38 sophomores and juniors said they already had discussed the proposed tax cap with their parents and that the adults planned to vote against the initiative.

After class, teacher David King said students had been told about the arguments put forth by tax cap proponents who contend, among other things, that education costs have steadily increased but students’ test scores haven’t improved, and that municipal budgets are too high.

Those municipal budgets, however, protect those students’ parents from paying costly user fees for needed services, Lessard said.

“The people who get hurt the most are the people who can afford it the least,” she said.

Reporter Ruth-Ellen Cohen contributed to this report.