NORTON - Faced with limited revenue, a tight prospective budget and looming building repairs, selectmen and Town Manager Jim Purcell on Thursday found a measure of relief in a debt exclusion article that won the backing of the finance committee, and will be placed before voters at the May 14 annual town meeting.

The article, included in the eighth draft of the town meeting warrant, calls for the town to exclude its remaining share of debt service on the Norton Middle School, freeing up funds to be poured into the capital improvements budget.

"This is a very narrow measure," Purcell said. "It will free up portions of the tax levy for other initiatives."

Unlike a general override of Proposition 2 , the state's tax-limiting law, a debt exclusion is not permanent.

The proposed exclusion would last eight years. Homeowners would pay $63 extra the first year, and less for each subsequent year, Purcell said.

The town would gain $410,000 in freed-up funds the first year, $363,000 in the second year, and that number would likewise continue to decline.

The town manager said the proposal had been in the works for two years as Norton awaited the results of a state audit on the middle school, which was constructed 10 years ago.

He said allocating the funds for building repairs would be a prudent move.

"We're not in the Taj Mahal here," Purcell said of the modest town hall building where he works. "Who can argue against improving the general town buildings?"

Selectmen Chairman Robert Kimball seconded that sentiment, and reminded officials of repair bills that will be pending once structural and roof problems are fully identified and tackled at both Yelle Elementary School and the middle school.