WATERVILLE — A divided City Council on Tuesday adopted a $37.4 million budget over objections from Mayor Nick Isgro, who questioned the council’s decision to put about $58,000 in unexpected revenue from the state into the town’s surplus rather than use it to offset property taxes.

The council also voted to ratify contracts with Waterville police patrol officers and commanders, overriding a veto Isgro made last month.

Although the spending plan for 2015-16 was passed by a 5-2 vote, with councilors Sydney Mayhew, R-Ward 4, and Karen Rancourt-Thomas, D-Ward 7, in opposition, there were signals at the meeting Tuesday that the order might be vetoed by Isgro, who has championed tighter spending and property tax relief.

“We’ll vote again on that,” Isgro said to the council immediately after members voted on the budget. Other councilors, including Dana Bushee, D-Ward 6, suggested that a veto was possible during discussion later in the meeting.

The budget unanimously approved by the council at a meeting on June 16 reflects a 0.5 percent, or $200,000 increase in expenses from last year’s $37.2 million spending plan. It would mean a 50-cent increase in the town’s property tax rate, bringing it up to $27.90 per $1,000 worth of property. A homeowner with a property worth $100,000 would see the annual tax bill go up by $50.

But on Tuesday, Waterville School Superintendent Eric Haley reported some good news — because of an increase in school funding approved by the Legislature, Waterville can expect to receive $58,191 more in general purpose aid from the state than it was anticipating.

Haley said that the city could use the money to buy back some of the cuts to the education budget or to offset property taxes, but the recommendation of the Board of Education was to put the money back into the School Department’s surplus.

The city’s surplus has withered in recent years as the money has been used up to prevent property tax increases, and there was concern that it was drawing reserve accounts down too much, Haley said. “We can’t sustain that,” he said.

Keeping the money in reserve would mean that the bottom line on the proposed spending plan would remain unchanged, Haley said.

A majority of the council agreed, approving an amendment putting the money towards surplus in a 4-3 vote, with Mayhew, Rancourt-Thomas, and Council Chairman Fred Stubbert, D-Ward 1, voting in opposition.

Isgro, however, was incredulous at the vote.

“The state’s giving us more money, and we’re not giving it back to taxpayers?” Isgro asked. “This is absurd.” He said the state had “imprudently” decided to give more money out to local communities and the council was not letting it “trickle down” to property taxpayers.

The council also ratified contracts with the Maine Association of Police commanding officers unit and patrol officers unit during the meeting.

The contracts were vetoed by Isgro in mid-June, a day after the council approved them.

In his veto message, Isgro brought up concerns with stipends given to officers for longevity and education levels, arguing that if pay bands were placed appropriately, there would not be need for extra incentives.

But on Tuesday, councilors and members of the police union voiced their dissatisfaction with the veto.

In a prepared statement, Jennifer Weaver, a sergeant in the Waterville communications office and vice president of the commanding officers unit, said the contracts had been negotiated in good faith and that the union had given up some health benefits.

She said that the veto was disappointing because of the long history of positive negotiations between the city and union. The news of the veto was shocking because the union had to learn about it in the news media, she said. It was difficult to see the contract “renegotiated in the court of public opinion,” she said.

Isgro apologized for the fact that the union was not informed, saying City Manager Michael Roy was supposed to tell the Police Department leadership right away but didn’t.

Police Chief Joseph Massey told the council that the education and longevity stipends were important tools to help recruit and keep good, well-educated officers.

Councilor John O’Donnell, D-Ward 5, said Isgro’s attitude had offended him when the contracts were talked about last, stating that councilors knew what was in the agreements and that they had managed to save at least $72,000 in health care costs through the negotiations. If Isgro had concerns about the content, he should have raised them during the negotiations or during the executive session the council had before adopting them.

But others, including Mayhew and Rancourt-Thomas, said Isgro’s veto had given them pause and made them think that they could approach negotiations differently in the future.

Isgro, for his part, said that his veto was not meant to be anti-police or anti-union, but to find ways to make giving salaries easier.

“I don’t see why people on the force couldn’t be protected while we insulate the city” from continued expense increases, Isgro said.

The council voted 5-2, with Stubbert and Mayhew opposed, to ratify the commanding officers contract and unanimously to ratify the patrol officers contract.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

pmcguire@centralmaine.com

Twitter: PeteL_McGuire

Related Stories