Town Manager Tom Hall is asking the town’s union employees to give up pay raises next year to help the town avoid a tax increase in a year when revenues are expected to be lower.

Union leaders of the town’s three unions for police, dispatchers, paramedics and firefighters said they have agreed to discuss the option of raise freezes, but nothing has been decided, said John Gill, a patrol officer and president of the Scarborough Police Benevolent Association.

“The membership unanimously approved our representatives going forth to have these discussions with the town. Nothing has been resolved yet,” Gill said. “Those talks are going to be ongoing.”

Union members are scheduled to get 3 percent cost-of-living increases July 1 – the beginning of the second year of their contracts. Hall said he asking the 56 town employees who are members of the unions, which includes dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics and police, to accept raise freezes for the second year of their contract. Step increases that recognize longevity would not be affected, he said.

Scarborough has a total of 157 town employees. Hall said he is freezing pay raises for all town employees who are not in unions.

“I have control over the non-union employees,” Hall said. “The union workers have these raises built into their contracts, so I need to speak with them and their representatives. So far they seem to be receptive and understand the challenges we are facing.”

The talks come at a time when Scarborough is beginning to work on a 2009-2010 budget that will reflect revenue decreases, especially in vehicle excise taxes, Hall said.

The town does not have solid figures for next year’s budget and does not know if it will be facing a deficit, Hall said. The current budget is $21.5 million.

Asking union employees to forgo contractual pay raises is one way the town can see real savings because it gives the town control over costs that are usually fixed, such as salaries and benefits, Hall said.

He added that leaders of the town’s other two unions have also been receptive to a request for contract discussions.

Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton said his union employees seem to understand the need for sacrifices during what he calls one of the worst national and local economies he has ever seen.

“You wake up every morning and you read the paper or watch the news and you see what’s going on around you, and I don’t think it’s any big surprise the situation the town is in because we’re just like any other community,” he said. “The key to it for us is we have always tried to be right up front with our employees, and I think that has paid off.”

Hall said that if the union accepts the raise freezes, it could save the town about $100,000.

The goal for next year’s budget is to not increase property taxes, Hall said.

“I don’t have the final budget in front of me, but I’ve done enough municipal budgeting to know that without some concession on wages there is no way to obtain our goals,” Hall said. “The only way I know to get to our goals is to get concessions on the wage side.”

The Scarborough School Department is renegotiating union contracts with its 400 employees, which includes teachers, guidance counselors, custodians, bus drivers and administrators, said Superintendent David Doyle.

Those unions’ contracts are up, and Doyle said he hopes some concessions will be made to curb potential budget woes. However, he said he couldn’t go into detail about the negotiations because they are taking place in closed sessions.

Gill said union employees understand concessions need to be made, but he cannot definitively say whether they will oblige the wishes of the town’s administration.

“Our members realize we’re in some fairly historical economic times, and the dilemma is that as taxpayers ourselves we realize we’re carrying the burden,” he said. “We also realize, however, that it’s those same tax dollars that allow our members to take care of their families. Hopefully, we will be able to work that out.”

In addition to the raise freezes, the town will also look at cutting services to make up for the expected revenue losses, said Town Council Chairman Michael Wood. What services would be cut is not known yet, he said.

“We are hoping to maintain the status quo, but it’s bad out there,” Wood said. “The council wants to respond in a manner that’s responsible and is reflective of the challenges we are facing.”

Also throwing a wrench into the budget process is a possible November referendum that proposes cutting the excise tax by up to 40 percent, Wood said.

On a new vehicle, the excise tax rate is $24 per $1,000 of value based on its list price. The tax drops as the vehicle depreciates; for cars six years old and older, the tax is $4 per $1,000. All 492 Maine municipalities collect 100 percent of the excise tax received in their town, Hall said.

The town is trying to create a budget based on not knowing what voters will decide in November. If the excise vote passes, the change could be enacted by January, Wood said.

“That’s difficult,” Wood said. “That’s going to be a dance, and that’s going to be hard.”