AUBURN – There’s still room for cost-cutting and budget-saving, according to Auburn city councilors. But not for a joint services group.

With a 5-2 vote, Auburn put an end to a two-year-old Citizen’s Commission on Joint Lewiston-Auburn Cooperation. Councilors and Mayor John Jenkins thanked the group for its work, but said it was no longer necessary.

“If the fate of these two cities rests in the hands of any commission, we’re in a lot of trouble, truly,” Jenkins said.

If the effort to share government operations is going to continue, it’s up to the cities’ elected officials and city staff.

“We’ve had reports for years, but every council has done nothing about it, including this one,” Jenkins said. “We’ve been recognized by the governor, and that’s nice. But we haven’t done anything but more studies.”

Members of the commission and their supporters attended the meeting, and urged councilors not to put an end to their work. Member Curt Webber called the move a huge mistake while resident Jim Wellehan hinted that the action would haunt councilors.

“Welcome to your last year in office, Mayor Jenkins,” Wellehan said.

Twin Cities’ officials have been talking consolidation since 1996, with the formation of the L-A Together board. A second study, in 2006, called for combined police, public works and back office operations by 2011. It also called for a permanent commission, with a staff coordinator, to guide cooperative efforts. The commission began working in 2007. In all, Lewiston and Auburn have received $197,916 in state grants to study consolidation.

The commission released a report last month calling for the two cities to begin moving departments to the same computer software platforms. That plan would make future efforts to share services easier.

The group is also calling for the cities to combine assessing departments while letting them continue to operate in their respective offices.

But Auburn officials Monday discounted both of those ideas. City Manager Glenn Aho said that both cities’ assessing departments are sized correctly. Reducing staff while increasing their work load would hurt their efficiency – and could cost both cities state aid. And Assessor Cheryl Dubois said the commission’s recommendation to swap Auburn’s assessing software for Auburn’s was wrong.

“The package we have works at least as well as anything anybody else has,” she said.

Councilor Ron Potvin said commissioners efforts to save their group actually changed his mind. He noted that newspaper editors and Great Falls TV programs all touted idea of consolidation.

“At some point, you stopped being advisors and started being advocates,” Potvin said.

Lewiston City Councilor Tom Peters, attending Monday’s meeting, agreed that the commission was finished.

“We can’t very well dance if we don’t have a partner,” Peters said.

But Peters said the group’s work needs to continue.

“It seems to me, after two or three decades of commissions, there must be some savings for these two communities in all of this work,” he said. He’ll encourage Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett to work with Auburn City Manager Aho to make sure something changes.

“I don’t care if it’s something as grand as a police department or something as simple as a dog catcher, something has to change,” he said. “And I hope that work can continue, no matter what happens to this commission.”