AUBURN – Cuts of four city staff positions, fewer rescue vehicles and tapping $600,000 from the city’s fund balances are all part of a proposed city spending plan showing a half-percent increase that was presented to councilors on Monday.

City Manager Glenn Aho outlined his proposed budget to councilors, calling for $30,192,738 in municipal spending. That’s $150,670 more than this year’s budget and represents an estimated property tax increase of $22.57 for a home valued at $163,500.

It’s a place to start, Aho said.

“It’s our line in the sand, where we start our work,” Aho said.

Councilors are scheduled to begin twice-weekly reviews of individual department budgets on Thursday. Those are scheduled to continue until April 27, when councilors are expected to vote on the budget.

Aho said he’s expecting non-property tax revenues to be down by about $521,261 compared to the current budget. Much of that comes from expected decreases in state sales tax revenues that make up state revenue sharing. He proposed using $600,000 from the city’s emergency fund balance to cover that.

The budget also calls for reducing six staff positions. Two vacant jobs simply won’t be filled, but four are occupied staff positions. Aho hasn’t specified which jobs would be cut, and the reductions are not included in his draft budget.

“This is something we’ll go into more in the coming weeks,” he said.

He also proposed removing rescue vehicles from service, instead of replacing them.

“We would continue to have the same staff,” he said. Rescue personnel would be reassigned to the Fire Department’s existing trucks.

He also called for better cross training of city staff, allowing them to do several different jobs.

This budget is Aho’s first as city manager, and his version of the city’s spending document included new information, including a calendar detailing regular department tasks and an inventory of all city vehicles.

“These are the kind of things I need to be able to understand where our money is going,” Aho said. “It can be cumbersome, but for me, it’s what I need to do a good job.”

The budget was a hit with councilors.

“I’ve seen a lot of budget books in my day, and this is the most informative one I’ve seen to date,” Councilor Ray Berube said.

The entire budget should be online by Friday. The city’s Web site is www.auburnmaine.org.