AUBURN — City officials scheduled two public sessions for July 8 and 9 to talk about pending budget cuts and get resident feedback.
“We’re going to have a night and a day session, and we’ll evaluate the success of them,” City Manager Clinton Deschene said. “If we have to, we’ll do more.”
The meetings are scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, July 8, and 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 9, in City Council Chambers in Auburn Hall.
Auburn councilors approved a budget Monday that cuts $1.7 million in spending but also raises property tax collections for city services by 2.2 percent.
The new budget looks to set the city’s tax rate at $20.70 per $1,000 of value. That translates into $3,104 tax bill for a $150,000 home — an increase of $166 compared to 2012-13 fiscal year.
Cuts will result in an end to curbside recycling and spring cleanup collections for the 2013-14 fiscal year, and cuts to city employee overtime that will lead to intermittent closures at New Auburn’s Fire Station No. 2 and decreased summer road repairs and winter snowplowing.
City officials blame much of the current budget difficulties on cuts to state revenue sharing approved by the Legislature on Wednesday. According to that budget, Auburn had to trim $860,530.
“That’s part of why I want to do these meetings,” Deschene said. “This isn’t a city issue. Almost all of these cuts are a direct reaction to the loss of that revenue sharing.”
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