BUCKFIELD — The Select Board approved articles for next month’s special town meeting it called to correct a discrepancy between the town warrant and the official ballot on four articles that passed Sept. 28. Those votes were declared invalid.

Voters will cast ballots at the polls Jan. 25.

The amounts on the September ballot were for the correct budgeted amount, but the articles signed by town officials listed incorrect amounts for winter roads, summer roads, debt service and state revenues. Those four articles will contain the exact wording that was on the September ballot.

In addition to the four money questions and one to elect a moderator, voters will decide four other questions. The major one is to set the date for the first property tax payment, changing it from Nov. 15 to 30 days after the vote, with interest starting after that.

Town officials recently discovered that it miscalculated the property tax rate, a measurement that determines what residents need to pay per $1,000 of assessed value, by including exemption values in the taxable valuation line, according to Town Manager Lorna Nichols. What was initially announced as a $3 dip in the rate should have actually been an increase of about $1 from last year’s rate.

The town rushed the tax rate calculation in order to get tax bills ready before the Nov. 15 due date. The whole process had been delayed because the municipal budget was not approved by residents until late September. Normally, that vote is held during the summer.

Residents who paid the first half of their taxes by Nov. 15 are facing interest costs for the difference for what the tax bill should have been. A yes vote on the tax date article would stop any interest being owed until 30 days after the vote. A no vote will require residents to pay the full interest amount.

The other articles include the elimination of the Board of Assessors and replacing it with a contracted professional assessor, which Nichols said would prevent some of the problems facing the town.

Another article would allocate $5,000 to pay for the assessor for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2022.

Seeking input from residents in attendance, the board discussed the exact wording of the articles and eventually settled on using the exact language from the last referendum. Selectman Janet Iveson recommended that each article being revoted on include a statement of fact explaining that the amount on the ballot is the same that voters supported in September.

Absentee ballots could be ready as soon as Thursday.

In other business, Nichols reported that the office is still working on the financials. She has asked the auditor to hold off until February or March to give staff time to review all documents and reconcile and post the many unknowns.

In addition to the town receiving American Rescue Plan Act funding, Nichols announced that the Zadoc Long Free Library also received about $3,000 in ARPA funds from the Maine State Library system. Librarian Katie Clukey said her goal is to use the money for an air exchange system in the building.