AUBURN – The future of shared services between the Twin Cities will come down to spending taxpayer dollars, Councilor Ron Potvin said Monday.

It depends on whether Potvin’s Auburn colleagues, as well as city councilors in Lewiston, will want to spend taxpayer money to combine any city departments or services.

“And that’s really the discussion we need to have, amongst ourselves and with Lewiston,” Potvin said.

Potvin pushed that issue Monday, suggesting the council put an unfunded line item for consolidation in the coming year’s budget. The council agreed, and members will have to decide this spring whether to put their money behind the effort or not.

Members of the Citizens Commission on Lewiston Auburn Cooperation presented a progress report to a joint meeting of the Lewiston and Auburn city councils last week. Their study so far predicts the cities could save $1.86 million over the next five years by combining government services, including sharing a city manager.

Councilors last week agreed to continue discussions at their individual workshops in the next few weeks. Lewiston’s council is scheduled to take up the topic during its workshop meeting at 6 tonight in Lewiston City Hall.

At least two councilors, Mike Farrell and Dan Herrick, signaled they were tiring of the topic.

“I think it’s time that we actually put this to rest and move on as two separate entities,” Farrell said. “It just continues and continues, and nothing is ever done.”

Other Auburn councilors said they still favored going forward.

“I agree that we’re not trying to merge the two cities any time soon – or at all,” Councilor Bob Hayes said. “But we recognize the need to find efficiencies and ways to deliver better services to all.”

Auburn’s councilors did agree Monday to study combining computer systems in both cities.

“It really makes all the other discussions possible,” acting City Manager Laurie Smith told councilors. “When we talk about combining departments, the software issue is always a question.”

Auburn relies on server software from Microsoft while Lewiston uses Novell software.

“And both feel their solution is best,” Smith said. Combining the two will be expensive, but she doesn’t know how expensive. The commission’s report estimated costs at $150,000.

“I have numbers, but nothing I’m willing to have quoted,” she said. That’s why the computer system study is important. That will tell the cities how much it will cost to upgrade their computers toward a matching platform.