LEWISTON – Moving money around in the city’s paving budget, delaying the hiring date for a new police chief and eliminating one Public Works position will help the city keep taxes from rising, according to the City Council’s latest draft budget.

Councilors will take that proposed budget to a May 19 public hearing after trimming an additional $277,730 from their proposed fiscal year 2009-10 budget.

“The bottom line is, there is no increase in taxes,” City Administrator Jim Bennett said. “We’re going to be at zero or less in terms of spending (increases), so that part of the budget ends up being flat, too.”

Councilors began with a $44.4 million budget in February, including reduced revenues from the state and a threat of staff layoffs. They agreed to reorganize city departments and allow early retirements for some department heads, and made other cuts

The proposed budget calls for about $43.8 million in spending, the same as the current budget.

“And when you look at the last four or five years, our property tax rate is still lower than it was then,” Bennett said.

Facing a $277,000 spending increase earlier this month, councilors sent Bennett and his staff back to find further cuts. They responded with a list of 20 mostly small budget-tightening schemes – not purchasing upgrades for some equipment, limiting printing and postage in some departments and reducing wages for temporary employees.

Some of the cuts were deeper, however. The city will spend more of its fund balances to help pave roads, which will reduce General Fund spending on roads. The city also will delay hiring a full-time police chief by another 60 days, saving an additional $46,387.

Bennett said he recommended increasing the budget by $18,012 to keep library hours in place. However, councilors chose to reduce the library’s budget by $4,000. That means the library would be open four hours fewer per week this year.