The more than 160 people who filled the Bellows Falls Opera House enthusiastically supported the $1.6 million budget on a voice vote.

Last month at the annual meeting, a $1.73 million budget was defeated by 10 votes.

The budget that voters approved Thursday did not include a controversial land sale that interim Municipal Manager John Schempf had originally included as a way to inject an estimated $65,000 of revenue into the budget.

Village President Clark Barber, who opposed the land sale, said Schempf recommended not including the sale earlier in the day Thursday, after hearing from a number of residents who did not want to support the sale.

Resident Doug MacPhee, prior to the vote, tried to get a leaner, $1.5 million budget adopted. MacPhee's plan called for cuts to the fire and police departments.

His proposal was soundly defeated in a ballot vote, 118-43. Schempf and the trustees sold the budget to the crowd with the promise that they would work in the coming year to find new sources of revenue and try to find ways to save money.

At a joint meeting this week with the Rockingham Selectboard, the two boards formed a committee to begin looking at ways for both municipalities to save money.

The members of both boards at this point are backing away from any talk of merging, but they have been discussing ways of sharing the costs of running the full-time police and fire departments that only village residents now pay for.

In not including the land sale, Schempf left a $65,000 hole in his revenue plan. He admitted that he did not know how he would fill that gap, but it was clear at the meeting that the group that showed up was not ready to cut services, even though Bellows Falls residents pay some of the highest municipal taxes in the state.

"Making cuts without research is ill-informed and will put us on the wrong track," Guy Payne said. "Simply making cuts without understanding real data is irresponsible."

And Fred Waryas said the $40 or so a month he pays in taxes is worth it to him to know his young family is protected.

Most of the comments Thursday focused on the police and fire departments. Some residents were critical of the police and fire department budgets, but it was clear from the applause that a majority supported the departments.

Bellows Falls Police Chief Keith Clark said the vote was a clear show of support for the work his department has done over the past few years.

"I see it as a ringing endorsement," he said. "But we need to take this energy and move forward."