LIVERMORE FALLS – Police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. received support Tuesday for his budget counterproposal that would allow him to keep an officer’s job.

Selectmen and Budget Committee members heard from Steward and other department heads as they went through Town Manager Jim Chaousis’ proposed municipal budget of nearly $2.2 million for 2010-11. It’s $521,581 less than this year. 

His spending plan proposes to eliminate a police officer’s position and a town custodian, and to not fill a vacant highway position. It also calls for reducing the transfer station position to part time.

Steward proposed a police budget of $426,935, which is $34,684 more than this year. It includes money for an administrative assistant, which is a new position established in December after the Livermore Falls Police Dispatch closed.

Chaousis recommends $373,428 for police.

On Tuesday, Steward made a counteroffer of the same amount that would include keeping the officer by cutting the administrative assistant’s hours from 40 to 32 a week, which would also eliminate health insurance coverage for the position.

“I have a real problem with losing an officer, especially these days,” Steward said. Having that officer allows other officers to do their investigations and also allows time to transport people in custody to the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, he said.

“We don’t want to leave the town open,” he said. “We also need someone to back up for an officer.”

Recently, Steward said, he went with an officer so an incident didn’t get out of hand.

He said the entire department worked on the spending plan. Reserve officers suggested they could buy their own uniforms to save the town money, and officers are willing to take mandatory classes without compensation, he said.

Other recommended cuts would decrease the budget to the town manager’s amount, Steward said.

Public Works Foreman Bill Nichols reviewed his $360,025 budget — $20,000 more than Chaousis’ proposal, which leaves a crew position vacant.

“I don’t know how we are going to do it,” Nichols said, of being a man down. He said his main concern was during the summer when workers take vacations and he may need trained flaggers.

Fire Chief Mark Chretien’s proposed budget is $100,950, and the town manager’s is $87,705.

Chretien’s plan calls for a $1-an-hour raise for firefighters, from $8 to $9, and for officers, from $9 to $10.

“The Fire Department hasn’t had a raise in four years,” Chretien said.

Giving firefighters raises does not increase the wage line of $28,000 due to fewer department members. Chaousis left that line alone.

Chretien voiced concerns about some proposed cuts, including repairs, but was assured something could be worked out. He also said Engine 3’s condition is deteriorating and that the department’s thermal-imaging camera is not working.

Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Louise Chabot said Wednesday that selectmen’s consensus is to go with the town manager’s plan, except for the Police Department. However, that could change once selectmen and the Budget Committee work out a plan each could recommend.

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