When voters in Androscoggin County go to the polls on Tuesday, they will be asked to approve the adoption of a proposed — and inaugural — Androscoggin County Charter.

We encourage passage of this document, which has been carefully drafted in response to voter demands.

The administration of Androscoggin County is currently performed by a three-member elected commission. The charter proposes expansion of the number of commissioners and moving administration duties — including day-to-day supervision of the county’s $10 million budget — to a chief administrator.

The idea of adopting a county charter was first proposed in 1989, some 135 years after the county was founded. In 1991, voters rejected that proposal because they were not convinced that bigger government was better government.

We share that concern, and tend to believe less government is better government, but the proposed charter offers Androscoggin County bigger, and better, government.

Androscoggin County is home to more than 107,000 people sprinkled among 497 square miles of urban and rural neighborhoods. The needs of these communities differ, but each is reliant on the county to operate and maintain the jail, the sheriff’s office, dispatching services, probate and property records, the emergency management agency and the aging county building on Turner Street.

Most importantly, these residents rely on the county to spend their tax dollars sensibly and responsibly. For the most part, that happens already, but there is no central administrator looking at the always important “big picture.” The proposed charter creates that administrator position, a position that the drafters of the charter are certain will more than pay for itself in streamlined planning and coordinated spending.

The drafters have highlighted 11 elements of the charter they deem worthy of note, including greater intergovernmental cooperation between the county and its member towns, streamlining administration of county departments, a voter-requested recall provision for commissioners and a requirement that the charter be reviewed every 20 years to ensure it stays current with constituent needs.

What we think is most worthy of note is the expansion of the commission from three to seven members, a move that would provide greater representation for rural towns.

Had these towns had that representation on the commission during the recent protracted and painful emergency dispatch center negotiations, the discussions may very well have been friendlier and more efficient, resulting in a solution that satisfied more people.

Under the proposed seven-member scenario, commissioners representing Lewiston and Auburn would still have the votes to carry the commission based upon their larger populations. But the simple courtesy of providing a greater voice to rural towns in policy discussions would almost certainly ease negotiations and result in better compromise with more ideas and more energy poured into the mix.

The charter proactively addresses the big increase in commission members by granting the authority for setting commissioners’ salaries to the independent Budget Committee, along with a verbal recommendation that the current salary figure remain steady and be split equally among seven representatives rather than three.

The result would be smaller salaries per commissioner plus greater representation for rural towns without spending more money. See? That’s bigger and better government.

Members of the Budget Committee support the salary recommendation, and we urge continued commitment to prevent creeping salaries because controlling costs is an important theme of the charter proposal.

In considering that theme, it’s important to note that the proposal contains a requirement that the hiring of a county administrator be done “solely on the basis of executive and administrative qualities.”

The charter proposal is intended to change county government for the better, not to maintain the status quo. It seems that — at least at the start — bringing in an experienced outside administrator is the best move. Some of the proposed changes may be uncomfortable to achieve, necessitating a fresh perspective that is not bound by established patterns and personalities.

The charter proposal is solid. It serves residents by instituting government efficiency and accountability, and it recognizes the contributions of rural Androscoggin County.

We urge passage.

[email protected]

The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and the editorial board.