LEWISTON — With $651,000 trimmed from their proposed budget, councilors will bring a $43.4 million spending plan to a public hearing May 5.
Councilors said Tuesday they were fine with a proposed fiscal year 2015-16 budget that included a 21-cent tax rate increase for city services.
Combined with a $3.7 million school budget increase, that would hike the city’s tax rate by 4.3 percent. That would increase taxes by about $117 on a $150,000 home.
Councilors have been reviewing City Administrator Ed Barrett’s proposed budget, department by department, since late March. Tuesday was the last night spent delving into the details of the spending plan, looking for cuts before the May 5 public hearing.
Councilors spent most of the evening working toward trimming the capital improvements bond budget.
Councilor Michael Lachance noted that the city was able to reduce debt payments by $485,000 in the proposed 2015-16 budget and that was key to keeping the municipal budget under control. It was due to frugal borrowing by past councilors and Lachance said he wants to continue that trend.
“This is a really good direction we are traveling,” he said. “What I see us doing right is reducing our borrowing. It’s paying off and it’s paying off quickly. I would like to see our borrowing reduced even more to set ourselves up for the next two or three years to do bigger things faster.”
He recommended not borrowing money to buy two of four police vehicles, delaying several neighborhood street maintenance projects, a City Hall maintenance project, signs for the city’s parking garage and some public works equipment.
Police Chief Mike Bussiere said the four vehicles were the minimum number the department needs to keep its fleet safe. Councilor Nate Libby said he worried about delaying maintenance.
“This city has been very disciplined about reducing our debt payments and our interest costs,” Libby said. “But I’m afraid if we continue to put off these investments we are going to pay for it later on. It is a balancing act, but I feel we have done the right thing getting a handle on our debt, but we are also faced with a crumbling infrastructure that we are not taking care of. It’s not going to get better by not borrowing to pay for those investments.”
Barrett said the council has more time to work on the bonding plan. They are not scheduled to vote on the capital plan until May 19.
City Finance Director Heather Hunter said she would present a trimmed capital plan to councilors at a workshop meeting May 5.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
