LEWISTON – The city’s post-tax-cap panel is tired of hearing doomsday budget scenarios, members said Tuesday.

“We’ve just heard, cut this and cut that,’ but nothing about how to save money,” panelist Ron Comeau said Tuesday. “There have got to be ways to make things more efficient. There has got to be some way to plug the holes.”

School Superintendent Leon Levesque detailed baseline cuts to the schools if voters approve a 1 percent property tax cap this November. His budget called for normal operations for students through grade eight but nothing for grades nine through 12.

That didn’t sit well with several members of the panel.

“I have a problem when the best plan you can offer is to just cut high school,” City Councilor Stavros Mendros said. “As important as art is, I’d rather you cut it and still let a kid graduate high school. I’d rather see larger class sizes, but I don’t think cutting high school is even realistic.”

His job wasn’t to present a realistic budget, Levesque said. That would be up to policy makers and the courts to decide, should the tax cap pass.

“I was asked to come here tonight and provide a budgetary exercise, a worst case scenario,” Levesque said.

The panel continues its work tonight as Mayor Lionel Guay, the City Council and seven volunteer citizens begin suggesting ways to add programs back in.

The group is working to build a sample budget based on the property tax-cap cuts. Last week, City Administrator Jim Bennett presented a budget that would eliminate 69 percent of city staff, gutting the police, fire and public works departments and closing the library, the recreation department and economic development programs.

Levesque’s presentation Tuesday was the companion to those cuts. Schools would lose $24 million under the absolute worst case, he said. That would mean cutting kindergarten, all arts, after-school, guidance and gifted and talented programs and grades five to 12. That plan would also eliminate the Longley, Farwell and Pettingill schools and combine their populations with the three remaining elementary schools.

A more generous scenario would let the schools keep $13 million in state aid. His $26 million budget under that scenario included all but the high school grades.

“There has to be something in between,” said panelist Harry Milliken. “We know that if this passes there are going to be cuts. We’re not going to be providing the best, most well rounded education. But there has to be a way to provide the basics, the three Rs.”

Mayor Guay said those discussions would be best settled at tonight’s meeting.

“Staff has done their job, presented the basics,” Guay said. “Now it’s up to us to look at it realistically and see what can be put back and how.”