BIDDEFORD – City officials are proposing to cut another 10 positions from the public safety and public works departments in an effort to minimize a tax increase in the next fiscal year.

As originally proposed, the $57.2 million budget for 2011-12 called for no spending increase, but included an 8.8 percent tax hike to pay for several bonded projects, said Finance Director Curt Koehler. It also called for cutting 21 positions from the school department and 4.5 positions from city departments, Koehler said.

By cutting 10 more positions — the equivalent of about $650,000 — the budget would drop to $56.5 million with a 4.8 percent tax increase, he said. That works out to an extra $162 in property taxes for the owner of a home valued at $200,000.

City Manager John Bubier estimated that the additional cuts would take five positions from the police force, three from public works and two from the fire department. He said it is the first time during his tenure that the city has cut jobs.

“This is my sixth budget, and we have not funded some (additional requested) positions, but we have never cut any,” Bubier said.

The cuts would hurt services, say officials in the affected departments.

“It takes so many people to make it work, and that’s the bottom line,” said Tim Sevigny, vice president of firefighters union Local 3107. It comes down to safety at the end of the day, but for the council, everything comes down to dollars and cents.”

Sevigny and Andrew Morrow, a firefighter and paramedic, addressed the City Council on Tuesday night to express their concerns about the staffing cuts.

The fire department now has 40 members, with eight to 10 people on duty during each shift. It also runs two ambulances. If the cuts occur, the department will likely reduce staffing on two shifts to seven to nine members and one ambulance, Sevigny said.

Public Works Director Guy Casavant said the $150,000 cut to his department’s budget would eliminate three to seven positions, depending on which ones are cut.

The department would have to absorb the responsibilities of the wastewater division comptroller, while possibly reducing the transfer station hours from seven days a week to five and scaling back on field, park and cemetery maintenance and snow removal, he said.

Police Chief Roger Beaupre said the police force, with 43 members, could lose a total of six positions with a $350,000 budget cut. He said that would bring the department down to numbers it hasn’t had since the mid-1970s.

“We’ll work with what we have, or don’t have,” Beaupre said. “Some of the things we’re providing now, we’ll just stop providing.”

Beaupre said he is still trying to figure which programs might be cut.

The council is expected to finalize the budget during a workshop next Wednesday. Residents can voice their opinions during a public hearing May 2. 

Staff Writer Emma Bouthillette can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:

ebouthillette@pressherald.com