The City Council will vote on a final budget Tuesday after a public hearing.

LEWISTON – There’s something for everyone in this year’s budget.

Something to dislike, that is.

For some, it’s the higher parking fines and fees. For others, it’s the delay of projects and improvements. And some hate the idea of dipping into the city’s surplus fund balances.

“Everyone has something they don’t like in that budget,” said City Administrator Jim Bennett.

Which means it’s far from a done deal.

Councilors are scheduled to adopt the fiscal year 2004-05 budget at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 18, after a public hearing. If councilors vote that night as expected, it will be the last chance voters have to influence the spending plan.

Flat tax

Councilors have agreed on one thing: The tax rate won’t go up for the second year straight. That’s quite an accomplishment for a city that had the highest rate in Maine two years ago.

“There are some trade-offs to doing that, as well,” Bennett said. “Do you raise taxes a little each year and spread the pain out or do you put it off and put it off until they have to come up a lot? That’s what some people fear.”

Last year, the rate actually went down. Councilors agreed to leave the taxes steady, but readjusted some property values, shifting the tax burden around the city. Values may increase slightly this year – thanks to new development – but nothing like the city will see in coming years.

“What we’re trying to do is increase those values and move the burden away from single-family homeowners,” Bennett said.

If Wal-Mart’s Lewiston distribution center had opened this year on time, it would have meant another $684,000 in revenue and about 47 cents off the tax rate. Homeowners should see smaller tax bills from that development in about two years, as well as increased property values from the area around the Southern Gateway and Bates Mill.

Parking

Parking violators face only $5 fines in Lewiston. Plenty of folks are willing to gamble and not feed the meters or overstay in a posted one-hour spot.

New, higher parking fines are being proposed by the City Council. Exceeding time would cost $15, not $5, and fines for double parking or illegal overnight parking would quadruple to $20. In fact, just about every parking infraction would be more expensive.

Fees in city garages and at meters also would increase as a way to get more revenue. Meter prices would double, from 25 cents to 50 cents an hour. Garage fees would rise from 50 cents to 75 cents an hour.

In all, the city expects to get $189,300 more from parking fines and fees. In exchange, drivers would be allowed to park free for the first hour at parking garages.

Bennett hopes both changes will keep more downtown parking spaces open.

“And we hope that will be good for businesses,” he said. “Right now, people only get a half-an-hour free in the garages and you can’t do your business in half-an-hour.”

Trash

Last year, the city began charging $1.35 a week per unit to collect apartment trash. Only apartment buildings with fewer than four units or buildings that are owner-occupied were exempt. For a nine-apartment building, the cost is $48.60 per month. It was expected to save the city about $220,000 a year.

But the city underestimated how many owners lived in their apartments and less money than expected was collected. The cost of trash collections will go up $61,000 this year and increased trash fees would make up the difference. Owner-occupied buildings would lose their exemption and the overall fee would rise to $1.54 a week per unit.

Bennett doesn’t want to chase owners out, so he’s looking for other ways to encourage on-site owners.

“You can tell the apartments where owners live because they look nicer,” Bennett said. “It makes sense, and we recognize that and we don’t want to penalize them.”

Schools

School officials had hoped to begin all-day kindergarten at Montello and Longley elementary schools on a trial basis next year, expanding it to all schools the year after that. The current budget would put that trial program in only one school next year.

“Some people are going to look at that like a big failure in this budget,” Bennett said.

Again this year, the school department decreased its share of property tax revenues and conservative budgeting of health and insurance allowed the department to absorb a state aid reduction of $190,000.

Capital projects

City roads won’t see as much work this year, thanks to a $300,000 reduction in the capital improvements budget. That’s a money-saver this year, but not necessarily down the line.

“You pay for delaying maintenance,” Bennett said. “You don’t have to pay to fill potholes on a road you’ve repaired.”

The city must spend about $1.8 million each year to keep up city roads, and this year’s $1.5 million won’t allow that.

Councilors would pull about $125,000 out of the fund balance to help pay for capital projects. The balances, rainy-day money for the city, are key to keeping bond ratings high.

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