SANFORD — Two longtime town employees were terminated from their jobs Thursday, the first victims of a municipal budget crunch.

As well, eight full-time positions and three part-time positions are slated to be eliminated June 30 in a bid to avoid a tax increase. The hours of three other workers will be cut from 40 to 30 per week.

Let go Thursday were Town Clerk Claire Morrison, who would have marked 40 years with the town later this year. Hired in 1971, she became town clerk in 1992. Also terminated was the longtime Public Works garage maintenance supervisor, Don Cabana.

The cuts come as Town Manager Mark Green follows a directive by the Town Council, which voted 4-3 Feb. 15 to have him deliver a 2011-12 budget that reflects no tax increase.

Green said the measures he took Thursday will slash about $1 million from the budget. A zero percent increase would require a $1.7 million decrease. He said the budget as presented will require $434,000 more in property taxes, or about 30 cents more per $1,000 of property value.

The council will peruse the budget Tuesday. It then passes to the Finance Committee, which makes recommendations for Town Meeting in May. The budget crunch is due in part to nearly $1 million lost in projected revenue when the pay-as-you-throw trash system was repealed; and to increases in expenses, like the 20 percent hike in tipping fees to burn trash at Maine Energy Recovery Company.

“These are not cuts I’m advocating, They’re cuts I’m asked to do,” said Green in a telephone interview Friday. “In better times, none of these folks would have been considered for termination.”

Positions to be eliminated June 30 include four Public Works equipment operators, a police department records clerk, the fire department training officer and a part-time grant writer. A police department patrol vacancy will remain unfilled, and a vacant Public Works mechanic’s position will be eliminated. Two vacant part-time custodian positions will be eliminated. The assistant town engineer, assistant code enforcement officer and the administrative assistant to the code enforcement officer will work 30 hours a week, rather than 40.

Sanford’s tax rate is $16.52 this fiscal year, was $16.42 last year and $15.70 the previous  year. Decreases in property values however ”“ about $100 million in the last few years ”“ have meant the amount owners pay in property taxes has remained stable or decreased somewhat, said Deputy Assessor Jeff Geaumont. The tax commitment has remained at $23 million since the 2007-08 fiscal year, according to Green.

The layoffs are among changes Green said he tried to make that will have the least effect on services to the public, but he acknowledged Public Works will take the hardest hit.

The transfer station will close during snowstorms to allow workers to plow because four equipment operator positions are cut. Green said crews will likely focus on plowing main thoroughfares first and residential streets as time allows. As well, the transfer station will close one day each week.

Green has combined the town clerk and treasurers offices under one roof and eliminated the position held  by Morrison.

Other budget cuts proposed include reducing funding to social service agencies and St. Thomas School by one-third, with a plan to eliminate funding in three years. Funding for Riverside Cemetery, Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum, Springvale Public Library and Goodall Library have been trimmed by 4 percent.

Town Council Chairman Gordon Paul, who voted along with Alan Walsh, Richard Wilkins and Ken Burgess to ask Green to present a zero increase budget, said Green had called to tell him what was transpiring, but that the two hadn’t really discussed it.

“It’s really a personnel issue. I really don’t have a lot of details. I have no opinion now, no comment today. It’s a personnel issue,” said Paul.

Councilor Joseph Hanslip said the issue is not a personnel matter, which involves job actions.

“This elimination of positions is purely a budget matter and in no way reflects on the people holding these positions,” Hanslip said.

“I can only imagine how difficult it was for Mark to make these cuts,” said Hanslip. “Given the message the town manager got from the council as far as raising taxes, I don’t see he had any choice. The only way to keep from raising taxes is to cut the budget and the greatest expense in any budget is personnel. I feel badly for longtime dedicated employees, but I wholeheartedly support the town manager in doing his job. This took guts.”

Vice Chairman Alan Walsh on Friday did not return two telephone messages seeking comment.

“Obviously, I want to support the town manager, this is tough for him,” said Councilor Brad Littlefield. “I would have preferred not to lay off, but given the times we’re in, we had to cut back.”

Some weeks ago, Littlefield said the budget woes would likely require cuts and a modest tax increase. He said he doesn’t advocate any further cutbacks.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.