Wiscasset's board of selectmen and the budget committee each make recommendations to voters on money matters, and for this year's budget season, it appears they'll work side by side every step of the way.

Plans call for the selectmen to include the committee in the board's workshops, starting with a day-long one on Saturday, April 19.

The panels will hear from department heads and pour over the budget draft Interim Town Manager Don Gerrish presents at the Tuesday, April 15, selectmen’s meeting.

The panels' joint Saturday meeting has happened before, and budget committee members often give their views at selectmen's meetings; but Selectmen's Chairman Ed Polewarczyk said this year's plans heighten the chances for agreement on budget items.

In 2013, voters rejected a number of items selectmen had proposed and the budget committee had opposed. Revotes followed, including a town meeting where laid off assessors' agent Sue Varney got her job back.

Budget Committee Chairman Bob Blagden isn't sure the closer approach to budget work by the two panels will yield more agreement.

“There's a huge difference between being invited and being listened to,” Blagden said. “So we'll just have to see how that works out.”

A draft schedule for the joint budget talks, available on the town website at www.wiscasset.org, lists the April 19 workshop, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; workshops on April 22, 24 and 29, and May 1, all from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m; the selectmen's regular meeting May 6, when the two panels share their preliminary recommendations; and additional workshops, if needed, May 8, 13 and 15. All sessions are in the town office’s municipal meeting room.

The draft schedule calls for selectmen to finalize the town meeting warrant, with their and the budget committee's recommendations, on May 22. The town meeting on the budget is set for May 31.