LEWISTON — A series of fees levied on rural Androscoggin County towns could reduce costs for the Twin Cities, but City Administrator Edward Barrett said he’s still unsure of the plan.

Barrett told city councilors Tuesday that the county commissioners’ plan to charge $10.65 per capita fee for towns that contract with the county dispatch could reduce the taxes Lewiston pays to the county by $50,000.

Councilors discussed the plan at a workshop meeting Tuesday night.

“At this point, we need to wait and see how many communities actually sign on and whether the county is able to make their budget,” Barrett said. “It certainly is an improvement over the current system, where we see no funding. Whether that is sufficient or not is a separate question.”

Lewiston and Auburn pay $1.04 million each to fund the Lewiston-Auburn 911 dispatch center in Auburn to answer 911 calls and to dispatch fire, police and ambulance response.

The cities also pay property taxes to Androscoggin County and a portion of those taxes go to support the county’s dispatch service. The county dispatches for the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department and other police and fire departments in the county.

Lewiston and Auburn officials have been looking for ways to balance those costs, including convincing rural communities to contract with them.

At the same time, county officials have been looking for ways to modernize the county system, and decided in May to upgrade it instead of contracting with the L-A 911 center. That proposal calls for spending more than $90,000 on dispatching upgrades and $70,000 on improvements to several offices at the county building in Auburn.

The county’s plan also calls for $189,991 in dispatching fees that must be agreed upon and collected by 12 Androscoggin County communities — all but Lewiston and Auburn.

According to the fee schedule, the county would charge each town $2 per capita for PSAP services — basically, answering and directing emergency calls to 911. The county would charge $6.15 per capita for police dispatch services and $2.50 for fire and emergency dispatch services.

County officials have asked the towns to respond by Nov. 21 if they intend to accept the county’s fees. So far, only Minot and Mechanic Falls have agreed, according to Lewiston fire Chief Paul LeClair.

“If all the rest agree, they will meet their projected revenue,” LeClair said. “If they don’t agree, we don’t know what action the commissioners will take. They could just incorporate that shortfall into the county budget.”

That means Lewiston and Auburn would be paying for county and their own dispatch services, Barrett said. “And I think you can successfully argue that Lewiston and Auburn have already subsidized county dispatch services for decades.”

Barrett said he’s also skeptical about how the county came up with the fee they are charging.

“I can’t say whether these are reasonable or not because I don’t believe there is any accounting basis for how they came up with those,” Barrett said. “Are we still subsidizing the county, even at full funding? I think that’s a good question.”

Councilor Mark Cayer urged fellow councilors to tread lightly with the issue and try to work with the county and its rural neighbors.

“Right now, I think there is mistrust going on among these small communities already,” Cayer said. “Before we throw caution to the wind, I think we need to be careful that we don’t create a disgruntled atmosphere.”

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