SEEKONK — Town Administrator Michael J. Carroll is thinking ahead.

The budget-planning process for fiscal year 2010 hasn’t started yet, but Carroll is already asking municipal department heads to rein in spending, fearing next year’s already gloomy financial forecast.

Tight budget times, both locally and statewide, are just going to get worse, Carroll said last week.

“The fiscal picture for the Commonwealth is increasingly becoming bleak for fiscal year 2010,” Carroll told the Board of Selectmen at its meeting last week.

“Those numbers coming from the state are scary,” agreed Selectman Michael H. Brady, noting that the state’s sales tax and gas tax receipts are down due to the slumping economy.

Carroll said he’s asked department leaders to identify ways they can immediately reduce spending in this fiscal year, which is now only in its third month. Any savings would be reverted to the town’s stabilization, or reserve, fund come the November Town Meeting to help the town absorb any future reductions in state aid.

“We want to make part of the cut this year to soften the rate by which cuts have to be made,” Carroll explained. “This is not a temporary situation. This is going to be a lingering fiscal problem for years to come.”

The town has tried to maintain municipal services at levels the public has come to expect, Carroll said. But meeting that objective next fiscal year may be even tougher given warnings that the state may be forced to reduce state aid to cities and towns. The selectmen are particularly concerned about a state voter referendum that, if approved in November, could repeal the Massachusetts income tax and sharply reduce aid to municipalities.

mwims@projo.com