The Allenstown Board of Selectmen has decided to cut more than needed to create a buffer for possible upcoming costs which would include paying for the outside accounting help needed as well as possible spring flooding of the Suncook.

There was a $191,996 difference between the default and proposed budgets, but in two meetings held on March 17 and 18, selectmen decided to cut an extra $43,000 from the budget.

The town’s operating budget will now be $4,822,968.

Following the March 11 vote, hours for the town clerk/tax collector, assessing clerk and secretary have been cut, forcing the Town Hall to close on Fridays.

The Highway Department took the largest blow, losing $71,100 from what its proposed budget, including two part-time landfill attendants. The remaining Highway Department employees will have to rework their schedules for landfill coverage on Saturdays. That includes the road agent, Chris Roy, who is on salary with the town.

The town will also delay the repaving of Library Street for another year to realize savings in the highway and sewer department budgets.

The Police Department’s budget was cut by $20,407, forcing the layoff of the department’s evening help.

Police Chief Shaun Mulholland said he has laid off his evening secretary, cutting the administrative hours of the department to between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., something that he said will eventually cost more to the town in Bow Dispatch service costs.

He has also considered cutting an officer from the force, but is waiting until after the town’s accounting issues are cleared up before making that decision.

The department got a federal grant to fund three officer positions in the 1990s, Mulholland said, and removing an officer from the force could jeopardize the department’s chances for receiving grants in the future. “This is a painful process,” Mulholland said.

The Fire Department is in no better shape, having to shave more than $24,000 off its proposed operating budget.

The school district budget was also turned down at the polls, leaving a default of $9,838,008.

The School Board has yet to discuss what will come out of the operating budget for Allenstown Elementary and the Dupont School, according to School District Administrator Peter Warburton, to make up for the $116,845 difference from the proposed budget.

According to statistics from the 2006-07 school year, Warburton said, Allenstown spends about $11,609.34, slightly more than the statewide average.