Dunbarton residents approved yesterday the purchase of a backup generator for its elementary school, something that town officials have requested for years.

They voted 53 to 16 to buy a $71,000 diesel generator at the annual school district meeting. Town officials said that it would allow Dunbarton Elementary School, which also serves as the town's emergency shelter, to operate during power failures.

To fund the generator, the local property tax rate will increase by 22.4 cents next year. The town will receive $4,260 in state aid in each of the following five years, reducing the net cost of the generator to $21,300.

Rene Ouellet, the vice chairman of the school board, said that the school has had history of frequent power failures; during one year, the school's power company recorded 100 failures. He acknowledged that most of the failures lasted for moments and hadn't forced the cancellation of classes, but he warned that more serious power failures could threaten the school's plumbing and infrastructure and cost the town money.

The town first asked for the generator in 1999, when the price was about half of what it is now, said Fire Chief Jon Wiggin.

"This kind of completes the project for us," Wiggin said, "and that is making the emergency plans throughout the town. . . . Hopefully, we never have to use it. I have a generator I never have to use, but this (shelter) is a much bigger thing. We felt you need to be prepared."

Ralph Fellbaum, a resident, argued against the purchase of the generator, which was rejected last year. He said that town's taxes had risen too quickly; while holding his tax bill up, he said that his share of property taxes had doubled since 2003. He also said that the townspeople, not only town officials, would help any neighbors who were affected by a catastrophe, stressing that just 12 people had asked town officials for shelter during last May's floods.

"Is this necessary for education of the children of Dunbarton?" Fellbaum asked. "In my opinion, it's not."

Dunbarton residents also approved a $4.69 million school budget, which is about $38,000 smaller than last year's. The new budget will reduce the tax rate by 11.9 cents.

Major budget decreases include about $88,000 less for the tuition of special education students and nearly $89,000 for the tuition of middle and high school students, who attend schools in Goffstown. The largest budget increase was more than $83,000 for school employee health benefits. But health care spending rose by less than 8 percent in the approved budget, far less than the 22 percent increase the school district had paid for in a previous year, said school board member Betty Ann Noyes.

Residents also voted to add $20,000 to the special education fund, reserved for unexpected special education costs, and $1,000 a fund reserved for repairs and the replacement of equipment in the elementary school's kitchen.

Noyes said the overall tax impact of school spending depends on which school funding plan the state government approves. Under one plan, Dunbarton could see a drop in its state adequacy grant, resulting in a tax rate increase of 38.2 cents, she said. Under Gov. John Lynch's plan, Dunbarton would receive an increase in state aid that would drop the tax rate by 10.1 cents.

By WALTER ALARKON

Monitor staff