Life is full of compromises, and the city of Auburn made two good ones Monday night.

First, the city decided to phase in new property values, reducing the impact of a large tax hike for most homeowners. The decision essentially reduces a shift in tax burden from commercial taxpayers to homes and apartments.

According to the city’s calculations, “average” taxpayers would pay about 43 percent less than they would have had the new values been fully implemented.

So, the owner of a house fully valued at $152,927 would pay about $369 more in 2006-2007, $2,914 as opposed to $3,193.

This compromise may help quell some of the taxpayer anger over the original valuations, but not entirely. Some taxpayers may still be hurt more than others, reflecting that property values do not increase uniformly in any revaluation.

Some properties have simply appreciated more than others. While the impact will be reduced, some taxpayers will still face hefty increases.

We also wonder about the reaction of commercial taxpayers who would have been the big gainers under a fully-implemented plan. Taxes for most businesses will go down, but not as far as they would have had the revaluation been fully implemented.

We also suspect that angry taxpayers will look across the river to Lewiston, which completely threw out its tax revaluation after taxpayers expressed their shock and anger.

Finally, this remains a phase-in. At some point in the future Auburn intends to fully implement the revaluation. For many taxpayers on fixed incomes, the pain will simply come later rather than sooner.

Still, the council’s decision Monday night is a constructive compromise, as was its decision to proceed with a road reconstruction plan for the area around the intersection of Mount Auburn Avenue and Turner Street.

The $5 million bond issue will be used to widen the roads and put in two “roundabouts” to help smooth traffic flow on Turner Street. We are happy to note that the planned improvements also take into account pedestrians and bicyclists.

Nobody likes traffic and congestion but, as we have argued before, too much of our retail spending leaves the area. Not only does this hurt our local economy, but a lack of shopping options also makes the area less attractive to prospective residents and businesses.

Best of all, the improvements will be paid for over 20 years through tax increment financing accounts that were set up for existing and new businesses in the mall area.

Something had to be done – and soon – to smooth traffic flow in this area, and this is a good plan.