AUBURN – Androscoggin County’s Budget Committee voted Wednesday to postpone talks on a proposed $10 million spending package- extending the current budget into January – to give time for sheriff-elect Guy Desjardins to take over.

“This department is in shambles,” Desjardins told the 11-member committee. “Give me until January 31st.”

They did. The unanimous vote seemed to surprise even the committee, who had planned to meet with current Sheriff Ron Gagnon over his budget.

Gagnon didn’t show, though.

The longtime sheriff said Wednesday morning that he might be visiting a critically ill friend in a Portland hospital. For the nighttime meeting, he merely left word for the committee to submit any questions they had in writing.

Yet, only hours before the meeting, Gagnon proposed a new wave of budget cuts, cuts that even his top officers had never seen.

“I can’t believe this,” committee member Paul Labrecque of Lewiston said. “Everybody’s smiling and shaking their heads.”

It all made room for Desjardins to take over.

When asked by a committee member his role in the current budget, Desjardins said he’d had “absolutely none.”

Gagnon did not return his phone calls, he said.

“Like it or not, I’m the sheriff-elect,” Desjardins said. “I just want a fair shot to succeed.”

This current budget has been controversial.

The three-member County Commission unveiled its budget proposal on Oct. 30, calling for a modest spending increase of 3.49 percent, from $9.88 million in 2006 to $10.2 million in 2007.

However, last year’s budget was offset by more than $700,000 in county savings. This year, with no savings to absorb the increase, taxes paid by county communities would jump by more than 10 percent as proposed. To find savings, commissioners called for wage freezes and five furlough days for many nonunion workers. Among the union workers, the commission targeted six employees for layoffs: five corrections officers in the jail and the only full-time civil deputy.

Gagnon’s newest cuts would have returned two of the jail workers. It also slashed the role of chief deputy to a part-time job and opened the door for cuts to the sheriff’s salary.

Gagnon insisted that his recommendations were in no way personal.

“People will say they are, but they say a lot of things,” he said.

At the night meeting, Desjardins insisted that the chief deputy job would be remain a full-time position.

“I’m going to have a chief deputy,” Desjardins said. “He’s going to help me put the department back together again.

Before the November election, Desjardins announced that Deputy Sgt. Eric Samson was his choice for the second-in-command position.

“He is going to be my guy,” Desjardins told the committee, pointing at Samson.

Desjardins, who is committed to work in the Lewiston district court until the end of the month, has vowed to spend every free moment working on the budget. He plans to meet with administrators and deputies toward a “workable budget.” He plans to consult with budget workers in Lewiston and Auburn and elsewhere.

“I’m going to work my tail off,” he said.

He warned that he holds no secret for the perfect budget solution, though.

“There’s no magic bullet,” he said.

Budget Committee Chairman Michael Bowie of Lisbon Falls said he plans to talk with Desjardins in January about rescheduling budget committee meetings. His aim is to wrap up the budget by early February, he said.

By law, a budget agreement can be postponed into the following calendar year. Until a new budget is adopted, the county will continue to operate under the 2006 spending plan.