AUBURN — The city budget should stay at or below the inflation rate, councilors agreed Monday.

That will require some deep cuts — $1.7 million from the proposed municipal budget and $300,000 from the schools. City Manager Clinton Deschene said he hoped to hear recommendations from councilors and residents how those cuts should be structured.

“The cuts will be there, but they will mean reductions in services,” Deschene said. “That is the message I’ve said over and over and I want to make sure that message hits home. If there are things we can do to be more efficient or to save a dollar and not hurt services, we’ve done it.”

Councilors will hold another budget workshop Tuesday, April 22. Deschene said he’s hoping to schedule public comment sessions from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, and 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 26.

The formal public hearing on the budget is scheduled for May 5. Councilors are scheduled to adopt their final budget in June.

Deschene made his draft 2014-15 budget last week. It calls for $76.4 million in total spending between the city and the schools. That includes $38.6 million in school spending and $37.9 million for city departments.

That would push the tax rate up about $1.05 per $1,000 of property value and collecting more than $41 million in property taxes. That would be the city’s highest property tax commitment since the city implemented a full property revaluation in 2006.

Property taxes on a $150,000 home would rise $157.50, based on that proposed budget.

City ordinances require the city to limit annual spending increases to the consumer price index. That’s 1.6 percent, and Deschene said it would require about $2 million in cuts between the city and the schools.

Councilors can override that rule with a five-vote majority, but they said Monday they don’t want to do that.

“Our goal should always be to comply with municipal ordinances if it’s achievable,” Councilor Adam Lee said. “It should be our goal. I don’t think it is by any stretch of the imagination set in stone but it most certainly should be our goal.”

Councilor Belinda Gerry said that’s the biggest increase she’ll consider.

“I think we should get down to the consumer price index, if not lower,” she said.

Councilors then agreed that the bulk of the cuts should fall on the city side.

“None of these are final numbers, but it gives a way to start finding those final numbers,” Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said.

Councilors also reviewed some of Deschene’s policy decisions that went into his proposed budget. One suggestion was to do away with curbside recycling completely, a $225,000 savings that’s already part of the budget the proposed.

Councilors said they were fine with that cut.

“I want recycling, but I’ve looked through this budget to find some place we could cut $225,000 to save it and I can’t find it,” Councilor Lee said. “The manager is totally correct. We are already getting to the bare-bones amount.”

They admitted that cutting recycling wouldn’t be popular.

“There are going to be a lot of people that will be upset about that,” Councilor David Young said. “The phones will be ringing tomorrow.”

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