LEWISTON – Councilors and taxpayers should find out Tuesday if a property revaluation is necessary.

City Assessor Joe Grube said Friday that he was still researching new citywide property values but will have a report ready for city councilors for their 6 p.m. workshop meeting Tuesday.

“But it’s premature to even guess at this point,” Grube said.

Taxpayers began receiving new property value notices in May of last year that showed overall city values increasing by $900,000 to a total revaluation of $2.3 billion – a 62 percent increase. Residential values increased by 108 percent on average, and that would have meant tax increases for five of every six residential properties.

Councilors suspended the revaluation last May, calling for statewide property tax reform. They’ve speculated recently that Lewiston’s residential market might have cooled, allowing the city to get away with less drastic property revaluations.

Grube said he’ll reserve his comments for Tuesday’s meeting.

“I’m still trying to determine exactly where we are at this point,” he said. “But the real decision will ultimately rest with the City Council and what they want to do.”

Councilors are also expected to continue discussing the city’s 2008 budget.

Their original budget, released in March, called for an increase in citywide property tax collections of $3.6 million. Since then, they managed to reduce that increase by $1.5 million. That involved moving some line items to the school department budget, reorganizing city staff for $428,000 in savings, and budget-tightening in several departments.

Property tax collections would still increase by $2 million, however.