AUBURN — Androscoggin County commissioners have completed their proposed 2013 budget, which calls for a 0.04 percent increase over last year’s $8 million tax levy.

“Looking at the bottom line, we’re at a $3,000 increase,” Chairman Randall Greenwood said. And when the spending package is delivered Thursday to members of the county’s Budget Committee, he expects few problems to arise.

“I don’t expect this to be a difficult process,” Greenwood said. Increases are too modest and so are the new expenses, he said.

However, the 11-member Budget Committee has yet to begin its work.

Included in the budget is a forecast of $189,000 in dispatching fees that must be agreed upon and collected by 12 Androscoggin County communities — all but Lewiston and Auburn — for the numbers to work.

Commissioners have also proposed spending more than $90,000 on dispatching upgrades and $70,000 on improvements to several offices at the county building. In both cases, the money would come from reserve savings-like accounts that were created for such investments.

“We’re dealing with an old building, but it’s not a lot of ripping down walls and relocating people,” Greenwood said. The changes will add security to the Registry of Deeds and privacy for the Judge of Probate. Some electrical upgrades also will be included. “We’re going to shuffle things around and try to improve our space.”

The dispatching upgrades would serve as a second phase of changes that began this week with the installation of a new console in the county dispatch center.

Plans call for handheld, 5-watt radios for patrol deputies and new cruiser radios. There would also be upgrades to the system that allow the county’s three transmission towers to coordinate.

Virtually all of the improvements would be necessary even though the county scrapped plans to continue operating its dispatch center at the county courthouse in Auburn.

Officers will have to talk to dispatchers, wherever they are, Greenwood said.

However, all three commissioners said Wednesday they expect few changes to their dispatching plan and they expect most communities to sign on.

“I can only be hopeful,” Commissioner Beth Bell said. “I think we’re going to get good participation.”

Commissioner Elaine Makas said she believes the fees are a good deal and that people are generally happy with the dispatching service the county provides.

The new plan sets per-capita fees for answering emergency calls and dispatching to local police, fire and rescue workers. Selectmen in Minot have already expressed their support. No others have issued a public response.

“The small towns that we provide service for are very satisfied with what we do,” Greenwood said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to make it work.”

The Budget Committee is scheduled to begin its work on Nov. 7. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. with a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. in the law library of the county courthouse.

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