AUBURN – A dispute between the city and Androscoggin County over budget committee seats was put to rest last month.

Superior Court Justice Joyce A. Wheeler ruled that the courts had no jurisdiction to make county commissioners fill vacant spaces on the budget committee.

The 11-member committee reviews county spending and recommends a budget. Members serve three-year terms. No officials from Auburn attended a caucus in August 2007 to appoint the budget committee. No Auburn representatives were nominated to the committee and none were appointed by county commissioners.

City officials appealed to the commissioners for more time, but they declined and appointed the committee with nine members. The committee began meeting and appointed two more Auburn residents on its own in October. The county filed a counterclaim two days later, saying the appointments were illegal.

Justice Wheeler ruled the commissioners didn’t act inappropriately by refusing to appoint Auburn’s members when none had been nominated. The court had no jurisdiction to overrule the county, so she dismissed the city’s claim and the commissioners’ counterclaim.

“Simply put, this court cannot rule on every dispute that may arise between governmental entities,” she wrote.