LEWISTON — The City Council made final adjustments to next year’s $58.3 million municipal budget Tuesday as it heads toward initial approval next week.

Councilors worked through a few sticking points — namely the funding level for the Lewiston Public Library — to arrive at a budget resulting in a property tax rate of $30 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of $1.44 from this year.

According to City Administrator Heather Hunter, the municipal budget represents 10 cents of the tax rate increase, with the school budget reflecting a $1.34 increase. The council will vote to approve the school budget Tuesday.

If approved as is, that would mean a property tax increase of roughly $360 on a home valued at $250,000.

The budget deliberations resulted in a compromise regarding library funding, which several councilors said had become a hot-button topic among constituents since a proposal was made to reduce library hours from 50 to 40 per week.

Councilor Linda Scott introduced a compromise measure that would reduce the library’s hours to 45 per week, a budget savings of about $12,000.

Hunter said that reduction comes from a library staff proposal to close Mondays to the public, “which appears to have support of the (library trustees).”

“This was a scheduling change under consideration independent of the budget deliberations,” she said. “The team is still working on what the final hours of operation will be.”

During a previous workshop, acting library Director Katherine Webber said full-time staff would still work Mondays while the library is closed, catching up on various tasks.

Hunter said the final budget adjustments made Tuesday also include freezing two Public Works positions and phasing in hiring two more. The city is also removing a position in the Fire Department and phasing in the fire inspector position. It’s also phasing in hiring an assessing position. All positions included are vacant, she said.

During discussions, Public Works Director Mary Ann Brenchick said an open mechanic position has been “tough to fill,” but that missing highway workers “will hurt in winter operations.” She said delayed hires are better than a freeze, but the department won’t be guaranteed to find someone.

Much of the budget talks have focused on the need to stave off a large property tax increase in a challenging budget year while also not making cuts to services. However, councilors have clearly disagreed about the best path.

Councilor Scott Harriman said he had received “seven times” more communication from constituents about the library funding than almost any other item during his term. He said voters would not agree with a 20% cut in library hours.

He also added that the savings from the proposed cut, at $62,000, was not worth the impact it would have on the community.

Webber said the cut would likely cause reduced outreach, programming and additional strain on existing staff.

Several councilors said the city simply had to make tough decisions, and were asking multiple departments to take staff cuts.

Councilor Rick LaChapelle said the decisions in front of them are “not fun folks.”

Referring to the frozen Fire Department position, he said, “You’d think we killed someone’s baby with the uproar on that.”

“I’m not taking away the importance of libraries,” he said. “But, at some point everyone has to take a hit. Where do we cut? We have to cut somewhere.”

Mayor Carl Sheline said with the way the library had been singled out, it was “disingenuous” for councilors to say each department was asked to make cuts evenly, a comment that LaChapelle took issue with.

Councilor Stephanie Gelinas said the council needs to be good stewards of the citizens, but “also need to be good listeners.” She said she only received one email in favor of the library cuts.

Councilors Bob McCarthy and Lee Clement said with concerns about the future of the economy, the city should be conservative, especially with a planned citywide revaluation coming.

“I think of senior citizens, and they are on the edge right now,” Clement said. “We have to make some painful cuts.”

McCarthy said the city should keep the property tax rate as low as possible heading into the revaluation.

When asked about the budget Wednesday, Sheline said, “While budget negotiations are sometimes tenuous, I applaud the council for arriving at a final result we can all support. I’m happy we found a way to fund the teen librarian position, the DEI director, and the fire inspector, along with other positions that matter to Lewiston. I am especially proud that we were able to arrive at a final budget that doesn’t result in any municipal layoffs.”