Little Compton residents headed to Financial Town Meeting Tuesday evening will vote on a plan to raise the tax levy 12 percent — three times the state limit — after Gov. Dan McKee on Friday approved town officials’ request to exceed that levy cap.

The levy cap override was requested by town officials after discovering a $1.5 million structural deficit in the town's proposed $18.9 million budget last month. After about $584,000 in cuts, however, the budget is still $1 million short of expenses if Little Compton keeps the levy to 4 percent. Without approval from the state to exceed the levy cap, officials said they would have to cut town services deeply to bring the spending plan into the black.

Legislation to exceed was introduced by Rep. Michelle McGaw and Sen. Louis DiPalma and it passed the House on  June 10 and the Senate on June 12.

The state's approval of the request added one contingency: Rather than approving the request outright, legislators approved a plan that allows the override contingent on the tax levy increase passing at Town Meeting this Tuesday.

If passed, the expected tax rate for the incoming fiscal year will be $4.75, higher than the $4.41 anticipated with a 4 percent tax levy. Though the rate is lower than the current year's $5.08 rate, that is misleading as the new number takes into account the recent completion of the town's statistical revaluation, which assigned new values to every property in town for the purposes of taxation. That revaluation added some $200 million to the town's tax base — the assessed value of every property in town — and saw the average property assessment rise roughly 20 percent.

Apart from other mostly routine matters on the warrant, there will be two elections at Town Meeting. Candidates include:

Beach commission (two seats open)

William Mackintosh, III

Joseph D. Maiato

Peter M. Petrarca

Samantha A. Snow

Budget committee (three seats open)

George M. Crowell

Jennifer R. Flather

Scott W. Lewis

Kurt Ryan Peters

Brandon E. Pineo

Andrew Larkin Rhyne