A meeting between the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen aimed at figuring out how to divide the deficit is coming up on Thursday, and on Tuesday, the Selectmen discussed what they expect to come out of that meeting, and kicked around some ideas on how to generate revenue for the town.

The Selectmen and the School Committee last met May 1 to discuss how the deficit might be resolved.

At that meeting, it was suggested by Town Administrator Derek Sullivan that the town deal with 35% of the deficit, while the School Department takes 65%, as that is how much of the total town budget the schools use.

An agreement must be reached before the end of May so the Finance Committee can review the budget before Town Meeting reconvenes on June 18.

"Nobody's going to come out of Thursday's meeting pleased," said Selectmen Chair Peter Teitelbaum. "But I hope we come out with something we can bring to Town Meeting."

If the deficit is split 65/35, the School Department will have to make almost $780,000 in cuts, and the municipal budget would have to be slashed by almost $420,000.

"This is going to be a difficult couple of days to say the least," said Selectman Alan Slavin. He said that among other things, the Selectmen will have to look at cutting the budgets of the Wareham Free Library and the Police Department. "There's going to be some hard choices."

Both Slavin and Selectman Judy Whiteside offered up ideas as to how the town can generate revenue in the future.

Slavin suggested that perhaps the town could lease equipment to surrounding towns that those towns need, but do not have.

Whiteside suggested installing cameras at various traffic lights in town to catch speeding drivers so they can be ticketed.

Saying she was impressed by Town Administrator Derek Sullivan's work, as well as those who work with him, Whiteside emphasized the importance of finding ways to generate revenue for the town.

"I would like to see you and the department heads and elected officials ... really think of some innovative ways to get our fees up," said Whiteside.