PARIS — Voters at a special town meeting Monday rejected a proposal to allow the Select Board to sell or dispose of any property, no matter how it was acquired.

Currently the board only has the authority to sell property that was acquired through foreclosure due to nonpayment of taxes, a routine article approved at annual town meeting each year.

Residents voted 11-8 in opposition to the article. Some concerns centered around the fact that although the article requires a public hearing to be held before any property can be sold, it does not require the Select Board to heed the public’s advice expressed at a hearing.

Others felt the special town meeting was not adequately advertised, that a special town meeting was not necessarily needed and that the issue should be brought to an annual town meeting.

Town Manager Natalie Andrews explained that the first property was originally listed online for $109,070 and the other at $68,380 in July. The properties, both under one acre, were then combined in one bid for $80,000. No bids were received.

She then realized the Select Board could not sell the properties because they were not tax-acquired, leading to the special town meeting.

The town has received an offer of $40,000 for both properties that the Select Board has accepted, Andrews said.

However, due to the “no” vote at the special town meeting, the Select Board still does not have the authority to sell the parcels.

The properties were originally purchased for $80,000 at that 2015 annual town meeting.

Resident Janet Jamison said she doesn’t understand why there is such a rush to sell the land.

“I think this is really shortsighted,” Jamison said. “This is an expansion of government power.”

“The board decided they wanted to start getting rid of town-owned property,” Andrews said.