After some juggling by city department heads, members of the Gardiner City Council say they can support the current revision of the proposed city budget.

The spending plan preserves the 60-cent cut to the city’s portion of the tax rate, but it does so in a different way that had been proposed earlier in the budgeting season.

Now the budget would result in a property tax rate of $21.40 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for the city’s share of the property tax bill, down from the current $22 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

“It’s not a budget I like because we are pushing off (capital improvement plan) things,” interim City Manager Anne Davis said Wednesday during a council meeting.

During her tenure as interim manager, Davis said, she has tried to get the city on track with its vehicle replacement policy, but some purchases have been delayed.

“You will also hear that we are using fund balance in a different manner, so I hope you will agree this is the best way to do it,” she said.

A number of changes were made to the plan and were presented at Wednesday’s council meeting.

On the revenue side, the sale of a firetruck that has been replaced is expected to generate at least $5,000, and $1,000 will come from a drug forfeiture fund in the Police Department.

On expenses, raises for department heads — to which Gardiner residents had objected — have been scaled back to a 3 percent cost-of-living increase, a broadband internet study has been removed, and implementation of a $15,000 software upgrade has been delayed a year.

The original proposed budget had included financing new trucks for buildings and grounds and for the Fire Department; but in this version, city officials instead propose buying those trucks outright to avoid financing costs and obligations for debt service in future budgets. The purchase of a requested plow truck also has been delayed.

Funding for an economic development director remains in the budget, but only eight months’ worth.

Even with using money from the fund balance — the city’s surplus fund — the amount that remains within the limit that the city’s auditor recommends.

With the delay of some projects, such as the roof repair at the Public Works Department, Davis said she allocated $12,000 to the contingency fund, in the event that something needs to be fixed.

“There’s really nothing left in the general operating budget,” she said.

While costs have remained flat, the biggest increase was in wages and salaries and health insurance costs.

“There’s nothing left on the bones. They have been picked dry, unless you want to cut services, and I have not heard that you wanted to do that,” she said.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect budget,” Mayor Thom Harnett said. “There are things in here I don’t like. The cut to the broadband study I don’t like. I understand it, but I don’t like it. But I am in a position where I will support this budget.”

He said the city’s operating budget has been cut and the 60 percent reduction in state revenue sharing is the reason that Gardiner’s tax rate is what it is.

“I am thankful we’ll be able to move a budget forward that provides some relief,” he said.

Other elected officials echoed Harnett’s comments.

“We were looking at a 60-cent increase and now we have a 60-cent decrease,” At-large Councilor Jon Ault said. “That’s huge.”

The proposed spending plan moves ahead to a public hearing and first reading at the June 6 council meeting following a unanimous vote Wednesday of councilors at the meeting.

A public hearing and second and final reading of the budget is scheduled for the June 20 council meeting.

Jessica Lowell — 621-5632

jlowell@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @JLowellKJ