RAYMOND - Voters will not see a $300,000 request on the March ballot for the purchase of the state highway shed on Route 27 and the parcel of land it sits on. Selectmen tabled the proposed purchase because they said the price is too high.

This means the proposed warrant articles total an increase of 40 cents per $1,000 valuation rather than the originally estimated 49-cent increase. The highway shed, and the 3.91 acres of land it is on, would have had an additional tax impact of 9 cents per $1,000.

The Board of Selectmen held off on referring the warrant article to the Budget Committee two weeks ago, waiting until Selectmen Paul Brown, Jack Barnes Jr., and Town Manager Rick Bates could meet with state Department of Transportation Commissioner Carol Murray.

They met last week and discussed the state’s "opinion of value" for the shed, which totaled $280,000. Brown, who is an appraiser by trade, said he still felt that price was too high.

The town originally wanted to purchase the shed and land because it is right next to the town’s public works shed on Route 27. Town officials said they felt it would be wise to purchase the land for future growth for highway services.

"We have time to negotiate," Bates said. "It’s not going to get sold out from under us. The state always gives towns and cities right of refusal."

Town officials discussed options with Murray last week. Those options include: going to the state Long-Range Planning Committee and making a case of why the value of the shed is too high with the hope the state would lower the price; giving the state more time to deliberate on the value and propose it as a warrant article next year; having the town’s appraiser look at its value and going to the state Long-Range Planning Committee with the appraisal in hand; or leasing the building on a year-to-year basis. Brown projects leasing the shed would cost $800 a month.

"We are crowded down there (at the town shed)," Bates said. "We don’t want to pay too much for it now."

Selectmen voted to hold off on putting the warrant article on the ballot and to write Murray a letter stating the town is planning to wait. The letter would also state the four options the town is considering for the future purchase of the shed and the land it is on.

At this point, 27 town warrant articles will be on the ballot in March. Twelve articles are for the election of town officers and zoning amendments, and 15 are town warrant articles asking voters for money.

The Budget Committee is planning to make a decision on the proposed town warrant articles at a meeting following a public hearing on Jan. 4.