CHESTERFIELD — Voters will be asked to approve the town budget, two petition articles and 34 other items on the Town Meeting warrant when they meet Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

The proposed 2025 operating budget weighs in at $5,031,755, an increase of $214,861 or 4.5% compared to the current year’s budget. It includes education spending that is up 1%, at $1,919,025; increases for general government and public safety; and a decrease in the highway budget, fueled mainly by an $88,267 decrease in Municipal Light Plant expenses, which are offset by projected subscription revenue.

The budget includes a 4.3% cost-of-living increase for all town payroll positions, including hourly and salaried town employees.

The Finance Committee reports that the budget fully funds the town’s capital plan. Town Meeting will be asked to authorize borrowing in the amount of $250,000 for a rescue truck for the Fire Department, an item that has been on the capital improvement plan for several years.

“Despite inflationary pressures, most of the Town departments requested fairly modest increases for the FY 2025 budget, but a few lines increased significantly,” the Finance Committee states in its report. “Information Technology (line 47) increased by $11,000 as the need for tech support, including remote meeting support, steadily increases. Fire Department turn-out gear has doubled in price (line 89), and the Highland Ambulance assessment (line 91) increased by $16,553, or 23.3%.”

Two petition articles appear on the warrant. One, submitted by Dee Cinner, Richard Roberts and Deanne Ursia, calls for members of the town’s Cemetery Commission to be elected rather than appointed by the Select Board.

The details of the proposal are found under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 114, Sections 22-26. Two portions of a town bylaw would have to be repealed if the article is approved.

The Select Board notes that two similar citizen petitions were brought before Town Meeting in 2021. One was defeated, and the second was taken off the table.

The other petition article, submitted by Cinner, asks Town Meeting to “strongly recommend that the Procurement Officer become a Certified Public Purchasing Official (CPPO) by taking the free online courses offered by the by the Massachusetts Inspector General’s Office and designed to provide public employees with a better understanding of the complexities of Massachusetts procurement law and best practices, or to take any other action relative thereto.”

Most of the other items on the warrant involve free cash transfers and other housekeeping matters.