Voters in the tiny town of Alna will decide Saturday if they want to put their debt-free town in hock for over $1.6 million.

Registered voters in this town of roughly 600 residents will be asked at their annual town meeting if they want to build a new firehouse with a meeting room for $766,000, to be financed by 30-year bonds, which with interest, will total $1,653,322.

This is the second time the issue has come before voters, and the second time that a committee has studied the issue. Members of the Facilities Planning Committee and the Alna Fire Department have recommended voters approve the new firehouse.

Voting for First Selectman, treasurer, one school board member and road commissioner will be held on Friday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., followed by the town meeting on Saturday, March 29 at 10 a.m. The voting and the town meeting are both at the firehouse.

There are 48 Articles on the town meeting warrant. Voting on the new firehouse is Article 17. The next Article gives voters another shot at the firehouse issue - this time voting to spend $466,000 for an addition and improvements to the existing firehouse. With interest, this would cost the town $1,005,807.

Article 16, one that will likely cause little discussion, although one never knows in the town of Alna, is accepting money from such sources as the state - the largest amount being nearly $300,000 in education subsidy. Other substantial amounts include about $45,000 in road assistance; $46,000 in revenue sharing; and over $16,000 in Homestead Exemption reimbursements,

Many of the Articles to be voted on are so-called housekeeping matters, such as choosing the method for collecting taxes and the method for collecting back taxes. One person will be elected during the town meeting - a cemetery trustee for a three-year term. Voters will decide whether they want to pay seven percent interest on payments made to property owners who overpaid the town, and whether they want to charge 11 percent interest to those property owners who don't pay their taxes on time.

Article 11 asks voters if they will approve increasing the property tax levy limit of $175,421 if all Articles are subsequently approved. This relates to a state law, LD 1, which says towns cannot exceed a certain amount of increase in spending from year to year, based on an extremely complicated formula which must be calculated by each town and city, and which few people on the planet understand.

Article 19 asks voters if they want to spend $55,000 on the administrative account, which last year was $50,000.

Article 20 asks voters is they want to spend the following salary amounts:

$21,840 - town clerk and tax collector

$5,000 - deputy town clerk and tax collector

$5,285 - First Selectman

$2,105 - Second Selectman

$2,105 - Third Selectman

up to $7,000 - Treasurer

$1,235 - road commissioner

$1,500 - fire chief

$1,000 - assistant fire chief

$1,000 - first responders director

$100 - EMA director

$18/hour, up to $2,700 - code enforcement officer and alternate

$12/hour, up to $1,500 - animal control office

$155 - health officer

$435 - planning board chairman

$595 - planning board secretary

$15/meeting, up to $1,400 - planning board members and alternates

$125 - posting of town warrants

$2,500 - elections and town meetings; this totals about $57,000, an increase of about $7,000 over last year.

Article 22 would make a change from electing a town treasurer to appointing a town treasurer, a move recommended by selectmen.

Article 23 asks if voters want to approve $15,500 for the computer/copier account, which last year was $1,000.

Article 24 asks voters if they want to approve $55,788 for the Alna Volunteer Fire Department (last year the amount was just over $37,000) in the following amounts:

$24,750 - administration

$16,048 - firefighter call pay

$5,990 - firefighter training pay

$2,500 - training tuition and expenses

$1,500 - first responders

$5,000 - radio account

In Article 26, voters will be asked if they want to spend $15,000 on the fire truck reserve account; last year $12,000 was approved.

Voters will be asked if they want to discontinue a portion of the Nelson Road in Article 28, and to discontinue the Reed Road between the Golden Ridge Road and property of Jeffrey A. Spinney in Article 29.

Article 30 asks voters to approve $40,000 for the general highway account; Article 31 asks voters to approve $25,000 for the Rabbit Path Bailey Road Reconstruction account; Article 32 asks voters if they want to put $7,500 in the Sand and Salt Building Reserve account.

In one of the few spending Articles that propose a reduction from last year, Article 33 asks voters if they want to approve $6,134 for the solid waste disposal account. Last year the town approved over $14,000.

Article 35 calls for voter approval to spend $6,500 for the annual valuation update; Article 38 asks voters if they want to spend $6,500 for the town buildings maintenance account; Article 41 asks voters to put $5,000 in the Alna Center Meeting House building reserve fund for painting the building.

Article 46 asks voters to approve $10,767 for 13 public service organizations, including the Wiscasset Public Library, which would receive $5,713. Amounts for the other organizations are all under $1,000.

Article 47 would take $90,000 the town has collected in excise taxes to reduce the 2008 tax rate, and Article 48 would transfer 80 percent of this year's surplus - also to reduce the tax rate.