PARIS — Responsible Pet Care approached selectmen Monday and requested $1,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act to help fund an expansion.

The town has not provided taxpayer funds to social service agencies for nearly 15 years and selectmen were in no mood to change course.

“We do not fund social services — cancer, Red Cross, etc. Why would we want to fund dogs?” Selectman Peter Kilgore asked.

Carlton Sprague voted for it; Chairman Christopher Summers, Scott McElravy and Kilgore voted against.

Responsible Pet Care was seeking money for an 846-square-foot single-story handicap-assessible expansion. Among the uses would be an intake area for dangerous dogs, space for small-scale disaster relief and limited vet services, such as spaying and neutering.

In a letter to the board explaining the project, the agency said the total cost is $275,000. Paris was among a dozen other communities being asked for funding. The bulk of the money was expected to come from grants and private donations.

Sprague favored the idea, saying, “That is a service that the town could use.”

“The job of a municipality is to look out for the best interest of the people, all the people, and to be fiscally responsible in the way in which we go about doing that,” Summers said. “Responsible Pet Care provides an essential service. I think they do a very good job with what they have. I don’t feel that it is appropriate for us as a select board or a town in general to go ahead and mandate taxation to go ahead and support a facility of this nature.”

In other business, Town Manager Dawn Noyes provided an update on the 2022-23 budget, saying most of the anticipated increase will be due to “wages, electricity, gas and oil.” She added that the town will be asking to purchase a new plow truck and are looking into prices.

The town will hold a public hearing on the budget at 6 p.m. May 9 at the fire station. The regular selectmen meeting will follow.

The town is also proceeding with a marijuana ordinance for medical and adult use. The board will seek input from growers, users, officials from surrounding towns and others before finalizing the draft that will be considered at public hearings this summer. Summers said a vote was not expected until November.

The board appointed Summers as code enforcement officer and licensed plumbing inspector. He had been learning the job from McElravy, who had reluctantly agreed to take the position temporarily a couple of months ago until Summers obtained the needed state certifications and licensing.

“I had the chance to work with Chris,” McElravy said. “I’ve been doing this for quite a while. I feel pretty confident that he’ll be an excellent CEO and LPI. Anyone who knows me knows that if I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t say it.”

Noyes reported she received one price for a camera system for Moore Park, which Kilgore had requested in response to vandalism. She said the quote was $3,300 plus $100 per month for a Wi-Fi hot spot. She said she was seeking other quotes before making a recommendation.

The board set the town meeting for June 21 at 6 p.m. at the fire station on Western Avenue.