NEW MILFORD — Residents argued this week that the budget the town sends to referendum should include the amount the Board of Education approved for the schools, not the lower amount set by the Town Council.

Dozens of parents and teachers took to the podium Monday night to urge the finance board to reinstate some of the money Town Council took out when it approved an overall $100.9 million budget last month. That budget includes level funding the schools and cutting town spending by about $120,000.

The school board had approved a $64.3 million budget for the district, which was 2.34 percent more than the current year and $1.4 million higher than what the council approved.

“Making these drastic cuts will have a negative impact on our kids,” said Board of Education Vice-Chairman Tammy McInerney. “We have wrung the sponge out as much as we can.”

Those advocating for increased school spending said New Milford is among the bottom 10 percent of the state in per pupil spending. They said the town needed to give teachers the materials and classroom support they need and that art and music programs are vital and shouldn’t be cut.

Some speakers, including the three fire chiefs, also urged the finance board to add $50,000 back into the fire departments’ shared capital account for purchasing and maintaining their firetrucks.

“I implore you to reinstate the $50,000, which was cut without notice to the fire departments, so the safety of the New Milford firefighters and the public is never compromised,” said Northville Fire Chief Alan Harris.

The fire apparatus capital account was formed after a fire in 1979 to ensure the town was equipped to handle any fire in the future. It is funded with an annual contribution from the town and distributed among the volunteer departments based on a long-term replacement and maintenance plan created by the three departments.

The contribution was $150,000 annually until a few years ago when it increased to $250,000 to better meet the rising costs of firetrucks. The chiefs said reducing that to $200,000 would bankrupt the plan.

About 125 people — most of whom wore green buttons to support the schools or clothing noting their affiliation with one of the fire departments — filled the Sarah Noble Intermediate School cafeteria for the two hour hearing.

A few people spoke about offering tax relief to seniors, who are on fixed incomes and can’t afford the proposed 3.87 percent tax increase.

Virginia Landgrebe, who sits on the Youth Agency’s Board of Directors, asked the board to approve their budget as presented by Mayor Pete Bass. She said the town and agency had an agreement that the executive director would continue with an annual salary of $1, saving the town about $90,000. She said they were surprised when Town Council cut their budget by an additional $71,000, with most of the cuts to self-sustaining programs.

She said these cuts mean they will have to come back in the middle of the year for more money and the agency won’t be able to generate as much revenue. Some of the agency’s initiatives will also have to be cut back.

Many residents argued that reinstating some of the original requests, including the schools funding and fire capital, would give the voters a chance to express their wishes during the referendum.

The Board of Finance will deliberate and approve the budget on Wednesday. Board members don’t have line item control and can only address the gross amount in five general areas.