LEWISTON — Councilors on Tuesday will consider trimming $1.2 million from the city’s budget over the next two years by cutting staff.
City Administrator Ed Barrett will ask councilors to approve an order authorizing him to begin reducing staff by about 20 people. The cuts would save $550,000 in the 2010-11 budget year and a$730,000 in the next fiscal years.
“I won’t support it, it’s that simple,” City Councilor John Butler said Monday. “I think that local government is a service industry, and you need people for any kind of service industry.”
Councilors are scheduled to review the the Lewiston Public Library budget at a 6 p.m. workshop. The regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Councilors are reviewing their draft 2010-11 budget, which calls for $43.6 million in spending, a slight decrease compared to the current budget. Even with the budget cuts, the proposed budget would increase property taxes by about $150 on a $150,000 home.
Butler said he’d support a slightly higher tax rate if it meant preserving jobs. Councilor Stephen Morgan said he’ll ask the city’s labor unions to agree to pay cuts to preserve jobs.
“I think that if you’re working, looking at that person next to you, working with you, you’d reduce your pay somewhat to keep them in their job,” Morgan said.
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