LEWISTON — When City Administrator Bryan Kaenrath first presented the City Council with his proposed $59.4 million budget for 2026-27, he also came to the table with $4.1 million in possible cuts.

Among them were 12 unfilled positions totaling more than $1.8 million in salaries and benefits that Kaenrath proposed freezing.

“If there are further cuts, it will very likely involve layoffs of current staff positions. … When you look at a total municipal budget and you look at the areas you can actually cut, there are not a lot of places because most of it is contractual, most of it is personnel,” Kaenrath said. “We’re right up to that point where there’s really not much left to cut.”

As a result, the municipal budget city officials are looking at is 7.1% more than the current year’s budget. When the county assessment and debt service costs are included, the total is $73.8 million, reflecting an 8.8% increase.

The City Council has been reviewing the proposed budget in a series of workshops, which are available on the city’s YouTube channel.

Getting the proposed budget to where it is required hard discussions and careful planning, Kaenrath said. With a nearly $1 million increase in Lewiston’s share of the Androscoggin County budget — nearly 21% more — and the same increase in debt service — about 13.3% more — it has become more difficult to justify spending at the city level, he said.

Kaenrath also noted there could be a possible 11% increase in the Lewiston school budget as well as fewer revenue sharing dollars coming from the state.

The process of identifying positions to freeze was fairly easy in a sense, Kaenrath said, because all 12 positions are vacant. However, he said it takes close collaboration with department heads to understand the impacts of not filling much-needed positions.

Seven of the frozen positions were carried over from last year and include two police officers, three Class C highway workers and two mechanics from the Public Works Department. Newly frozen positions include one police officer, two Class C highway workers, one Class B highway worker and one senior accountant for the city.

“I don’t think the public will see on the face of it any major changes in service,” Kaenrath said. “But certainly for our staff and our departments, they’re going to be doing more with less for sure.”

Kaenrath said the approach to the budget is retaining employees over filling these open roles, but the strain on current employees is a real thing. 

“We’re certainly not going to lay off current people employed here before freezing vacant positions,” he said. “But it impacts morale when we’re asking employees to pick up more of the slack all the time.”

Public Works Director Kevin Gagne said the frozen positions change priorities and some of the delivery time. 

For example, winter plowing conditions, especially on some of the smaller streets and neighborhoods, can be affected by how many drivers and vehicles are available, Gagne said. During the last storm alone, the main fleet of plow drivers were being backed up by a second fleet that would otherwise be deployed after the main fleet came off its shift.

“We’re very strategic, trying to get people to rest and rotate crews, but there’s not a full compliment out there depending on what’s going on,” Gagne said. 

Delegating work is not difficult so much as it is frustrating, Gagne added. For any operation — spring, summer, winter or fall — public works needs to prioritize according to work that needs to be done and what resources are available. 

And sometimes the answer is “no,” Gagne said, when work is requested.

Nonessential work will be put off as workers focus on public space safety and essential services, things like potholes, line painting, mowing of the athletic fields and more, he said. Beautification projects and tasks like minor mowing jobs, planter care and litter pickup, though important, are not critical.

The most important thing to know, Gagne said, is that as public works employees continue to work hard and complete as much work as possible, it’s tax dollars that ultimately decide what gets done and how much. Beyond what public works can do, residents also need to ask themselves what they can do to keep their neighborhood looking fresh, he said.

“You want your taxes and utility rates low, (so) if there’s something you can do as a neighborhood, that will help save us from sending crews out or contracting out,” Gagne said, “Help take care of your neighborhood and be patient with us.”

Kaenrath said the police department has been down six to 10 officers for several years, a result of hiring difficulties. The department is dealing not just with vacant positions and considerations like vacation, military leave and medical leave, but with possible retirements coming within the year. 

“When we’re down a certain number of officers, that’s less cops on the streets,” Kaenrath said. “It’s less proactive patrols, it’s less footing and bike patrols. It’s less across the board … (and) they’re dealing with (difficult) police work that isn’t necessarily happening in lots of other parts of the state.”

The economy has provided a “perfect storm” of rising costs, a challenge when priorities center not just on keeping taxes as low as possible, but on keeping the city of Lewiston a good place to work, Kaenrath said. 

“(City employees) are choosing to devote their careers to Lewiston, and they’re dealing with some things here that other cities don’t have to deal with,” Kaenrath said. “ We have a lot of things going on here, a lot of challenges and … no offense to (other towns), but in some ways I think it’s an easier gig for people there.”