Lewiston’s city councilors are aiming for bigger budget cuts.

LEWISTON – Keep cutting, councilors said Tuesday.

A possible tax rate increase was down to 20 cents per $1,000 of value after City Administrator Jim Bennett presented some deeper budget savings to the City Council. Those savings included expanding the city’s trash collection fee program, raising other fees by 5 percent and using some accounting moves.

Councilors said they’d like to see that 20 cents down to zero before they adopt a final budget.

Bennett said he’d have to look at other ways to make that happen.

“I don’t know what else we can do, guys,” Bennett said.

Councilors are scheduled to meet with school board members on Thursday. They’ll continue budget discussions on May 6, with an executive session to discuss pending labor contracts.

Bennett’s original budget calls for a tax boost of 55 cents for each $1,000 of property value – about $43 more annually on an $86,000 home. That represents $1.97 million in new spending, including $624,000 in debt payments and about $786,000 in salaries, health insurance, liability insurance and unemployment insurance. Councilors need to trim $800,000 to keep the tax rate from increasing.

Bennett said he had found ways to cut all but about $288,000 of that increase. The city could consider increasing the weekly trash collection fee from $1.35 per unit to $1.55 and end the exemption on owner-occupied buildings. Buildings with fewer than four units would still have their trash collected free of charge.

Parking rates and fines could also increase, as could building and work permits, business permits and other city fees and fines.

Those moves could bring in an additional $156,000 in revenue, he said.

Bennett said he could also save money by waiting longer to replace employees who have left, back off of a plan to make city wages in line with other cities and pay for more capital projects out of fund balances.

Those cuts would bring the tax rate increase down to 20 cents, about $15 more per year for an $86,000 home.

But councilors split on what to do next. Councilors Norm Rousseau and Stavros Mendros both favored a city-wide wage freeze while Councilor Ron Jean said he favored cuts in employee benefits and getting rid of a fire truck.

“I don’t understand why we need such a big fire department, anyway,” Jean said. “We don’t have that many fires.”

Others, including Mark Paradis and Renee Bernier said 20 cents was livable.

“But I’d be foolish not to consider other savings,” Paradis said.

Bennett said councilors have not given him a clear idea of what they want, besides lower taxes.

“I’ll go back and look for a way to cut another $288,000, but I don’t feel I have clear direction from you,” Bennett said. “I think it should be obvious, just from looking around, you don’t have a clear understanding where each of you stand.”

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