A proposed 11% increase in the operating budget for the town of Boscawen, fueled by increases in personnel and police department costs, will be the subject of a public hearing on Thursday evening.

The proposal calls for spending $473,000 more than last year’s budget. About $188,000 of that increase is for “personnel administration” and another $107,000 for the police department.

In terms of percentage, the biggest proposed hikes are for the health department, which would go from $8,180 to $20,000, and street lighting, which would go from almost $20,000 to more than $42,000.

The total proposed budget is $4.80 million, 10.8% higher than last year’s budget of $4.33 million, and almost 20% higher than the $3.92 million that was actually spent in last year’s budget, according to town documents. The figure does not include spending on separate warrant articles, such as contributions to ongoing capital reserve accounts.

Details of the proposed budget can be seen on the town website.

The budget hearing, including public comment, will take place at 6 p.m. at the Municipal Office Building’s fourth floor meeting room, 116 North Main St. The meeting can be seen online via GoToMeeting, meet.goto.com/509117573, although no public comment can be taken online.

Town Meeting will be held Tuesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at the Boscawen Elementary School.

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