LEWISTON – No matter what the final tally is in a federal economic stimulus package, local officials want to make sure they get their share.

In Lewiston, officials want the money to come directly to the cities, skipping state oversight as much as possible.

“What seems to happen, if money goes through Augusta, it goes into a big hole,” Lewiston City Councilor Denis Theriault said. “A whole bunch of administrative fees get attached and other programs tap right in. By the time any help gets to Lewiston, it’s a quarter less than what it started as.”

The White House and Congress worked Thursday to settle on an economic stimulus bill. If approved, the federal government would inject $790 billion into the national economy, much of it aimed at state and local governments. The latest draft would send as much as $54 billion to the states for discretionary spending. That alone could send $1 billion in federal money to Maine.

Michael Starn, communications director for the Maine Municipal Association, said most communities across the country have their eyes on the package’s bottom line.

“But I think the way it’s being set up, the governor does become the chief distributor,” Starn said. “There may be pass-throughs to the individual cities and schools, but we don’t know what the final product will look like.”

In Auburn, the city has created a staff committee to review the legislation and make sure the city gets its share.

“Our goal is to let our local representatives and senators in Augusta know just what we need,” City Manager Glenn Aho said. “We don’t have a deadline to speak of, but we know that time is of the essence. We don’t want our representatives to make any decisions about that money before they’ve heard from us.”

That money could help provide property tax relief in Auburn, Aho said.

“You can stimulate the economy by giving people income tax relief, but it doesn’t have to stop there,” Aho said. “If we could give some relief on property taxes, that stimulates the economy. I don’t think this is the year to start spending on big projects.”

Aho said the committee, led by Economic Development Director Roland Miller, is looking for other dollars in the bill as well, including money to replace aging Edward Little High School.

“That’s Roland’s purpose, to sift through that bill and find out what can help us most,” Aho said.

In Lewiston, Theriault said the city has projects ready to go that federal dollars could help. He doesn’t have to look much further than the city’s storm water system.

“We still have about $13 million in work to do before we’re finished,” he said. “Well, let’s get it done. If we do enough and get it finished, we can take that burden off of the taxpayers. That’s a stimulus.”

Above all, Theriault said any federal stimulus needs to spent locally if it’s going to help.

“We have a track record of handling money directly,” Theriault said. “We’ve proven we can do it, and we don’t need another 50 people handling every dollar bill before it gets to us.”

Councilor Tom Peters agreed.

“We don’t begrudge the state its share of whatever money comes down,” Peters said. “But we have expertise with our city, and so do Bangor, Augusta and Portland. And as service center cities, I think there’s a lot of impact that money can have, if it comes in directly.”