Henniker voters will face a town operating budget of $6.66 million, up 6% from the amount approved last year, on election day as well as a $1.5 million bond to continue upgrades of the wastewater system.

Tuesday’s budget hearing contained some debate from select board members about whether a part-time position dealing with land use and planning issues should be increased to full-time, as was proposed. Motions by Bill Marko and Kris Blomback to either keep the position at part-time or reduce the budget by $17,000 to eliminate the salary increase failed to get majority support.

If the budget and all warrant articles pass, the town tax rate is estimated to increase from $6.93 per $100,000 of assessed valuation to $7.52, adding about $180 to the annual tax bill of a $300,000 home. Henniker’s budget is collected from properties in town with a total assessed value of $737 million.

The traditional town meeting will be Saturday, March 16, at 1 p.m. in the Henniker Community School.

Most of the operating budget increase comes from merit and cost-of-living increases in salaries – “Wages is a big thing because town government is people-oriented,” noted Blomback – and in a hike in health insurance premiums of up to 14%.

Some details in the published warrant are difficult to see because of changes made to the town’s accounting to make it more in line with how the state accounts. For example, the finance line item appears to have dropped by a whopping $544,000 but that’s because many of its functions have been shifted to be paid in other areas, while the cost of running town-owned buildings now has its own category that did not exist before, showing costs shifted from other areas.

Other items on the warrant include:

■ $1.5 million in upgrades to the town’s wastewater treatment system, $425,000 of which will be covered by the state’s revolving fund loan program.

■ $100,000 to hire a consulting firm to recommend ways to reduce excess phosphate in French and Keyser ponds, which is causing cyanobacteria blooms. The amount should be covered by $100,000 in principal loan forgiveness under the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

■ A number of capital reserve funds, which accumulate money over time to help cover big purchases in future years, would get money, including $80,000 for an ambulance and $100,000 for a future police department building.

■ $20,000 for continued restoration of granite and mortar on the exterior of the Tucker Free Library, covered by funds from the state’s Moose Plate fund. A separate item would pay $266,244 to operate the library.

■ A change in qualifications for elderly exemption from some property taxes, including raising the amount of assets owned from $48,000, an amount so small that you can’t own a home, to $400,000.

■ A petitioned article would eliminate rental fees for using town property from organizations “whose efforts benefit residents of Henniker.”