By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Most of the work on Lewiston’s 2006 budget was done almost before it started.

City Administrator Jim Bennett and his staff were still finalizing budget details Friday – meeting with attorneys and putting together Tuesday’s agenda.

The bottom line is pretty much the same as it was back in March, however, property taxes are going down for the first time in years.

“I think that’s going to be the biggest difference for people this year – they should see their actual tax bill go down,” Bennett said. “This year, it’s not just the tax rate. Tax rates change all the time but that doesn’t mean people pay any less. But this year, they actually will.”

There is a trade-off, however.

“There are roads that need work and money that could be spent in the schools,” Bennett said. “When you have budget savings, there’s a real temptation to spend it. But I think everyone agreed, it’s time for tax relief.”

Residents get their last chance to weigh-in on the fiscal year 2006 budget Tuesday night. The final public hearing for the budget is part of the City Council’s 7 p.m. meeting.

After that, councilors are scheduled to vote on the budget and approve all of the administrative decisions surrounding it.

State aids

Many factors added up to the city’s budget, Bennett said. For starters, the city is worth more now than it was a year ago, and that means more property taxes. Businesses should contribute another $2 million in new annual property taxes.

The city also benefits from changes at the state level. Lewiston schools look to receive about $3 million more in state aid in 2006 than in the current budget. And changes in the state Homestead Exemption rules dictate that any savings from that increase go to cut down residential property taxes.

The state doubled the Homestead Exemption from $7,500 to $13,000, but only reimburses the city for half. That came out to about $1 million the city needed come up with.

“Without the Homestead changes, we would have been able to lower taxes for everyone, not just homeowners,” Bennett said. “As it stands now, the homeowners get bigger tax relief than everyone else.”

Landfill deal

A plan to hand daily management of the city’s landfill to Casella Waste Management Inc., – parent company of Pine Tree Waste – is one of the most important decisions left unsettled.

According to the deal, Casella will pay the city a yearly fee instead of taxes, an annual hosting fee and $75,000 per year to hire environmental monitoring consultants. Bennett estimated those would add up to almost $196,200 additional revenue in 2006 and more later on.

In exchange, the company gets the estimated $258,000 in annual fees from dump users. The city will pay to dump as well – about $55,000 in 2006 and $158,000 in 2007.

Above all, the city no longer has to pay costs to operate the landfill and recycling center. That should save $600,000 the first year and $350,000 per year after that.

Bennett plans to use the first $290,000 of the savings to lower the city tax rate by 20 cents. That would set the city’s tax rate at $27.35 for each $1,000 of property value.