By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Be ready for more intense budget discussions, City Administrator Jim Bennett said.

“There’s going to be more education than in years past,” Bennett said. “A lot will be different than before.”

The biggest difference will the be citywide property revaluation, the first in 15 years. Bennett said he’s prepared to release the new city values at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Individual values for home owners and businesses are due out late in April.

Bennett will also present his recommended spending plan for the 2006-07 fiscal year.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

The reval will change taxes for homeowners. The city uses the overall value to set the city’s property tax rate, now $27.35 for each $1,000 in value. Then, the city multiplies that tax rate against individual property values to determine each taxpayer’s bill.

“About 25 percent will see higher taxes, about 25 percent will see lower taxes and the remaining half should stay right about the same,” Bennett said.

But Bennett said the residential taxpayers won’t see a bigger share of the tax burden, thanks to $50 million in new commercial value.

“We’ve been very aggressive getting new development, and it’s generally going to pay off,” Bennett said. The overall city budget should be about the same as this year’s. Last year’s budget called for about $80 million in spending for city departments and schools. That included $39.6 million in property taxes.