AUBURN — What is usually little more than a rubber stamp by the Androscoggin County Commission when approving warrants turned into a spirited discussion Wednesday when one commissioner questioned the growing amount of money the county is paying in legal fees.

Commissioner Alfreda Fournier objected to two line items in the warrants — one for $38,000 and another for $3,000 — for legal fees to the county’s law firm, Skelton, Taintor and Abbott.

Fournier said the county has already overspent its budget, according to her figures, paying $87,823 for legal fees with four months remaining in the fiscal year. That amount does not include the additional $41,000 in the new warrants.

Commissioners had budgeted $75,000 in legal fees for the year.

“Every meeting I get more concerned about how much money we are spending,” Fournier said, adding that the commissioners need to “hold the line.”

She said she could not support paying those two items in the warrants until she was provided with an itemized breakdown on how the money was being spent.

Fournier said she was speaking up for her constituents in Auburn. The amount the county is spending on legal fees is the biggest complaint she hears, Fournier said.

Longtime Commissioner Randall Greenwood of Wales objected to that reasoning, saying the commissioners can’t control who files grievances against the county.

“My response to my constituents is that we’re not the ones who are actually litigating the suit,” Greenwood said, referring to the ongoing lawsuit filed by 12 of the 14 municipalities in Androscoggin County against the commissioners concerning the power of the Budget Committee in setting the commissioners salaries in 2014.

Commissioner Sally Christner echoed Fournier’s frustration. “We don’t have the money to move forward,” she said.

Seeing no harm in delaying payment for a week so Fournier could be provided with a breakdown of costs, Commissioner Elaine Makas of Lewiston moved to approve the warrants with the exception of the items in question.

Greenwood, though, felt any delay could hurt the county’s relationships with its vendors and amended the motion to approve all the warrants. That failed in a 3-4 vote, with Greenwood, Beth Bell and Matt Roy in favor. Makas’ motion then passed 5-2, with Greenwood and Roy opposing.

Commissioners completed their preliminary look at the 2017 budget, reviewing the proposals for the Emergency Management Agency and the six departments overseen by Sheriff Eric Samson.

Seeking a 3.6 percent increase, EMA Director Joanne Potvin requested an additional $6,828 to replace her organization’s outdated 13-year-old telephone system.

Samson and County Administrator Larry Post stressed the dilemma they are facing in funding the jails.

Working with the district attorney and alternative sentencing programs, Samson and his staff reduced average head counts in the jail from approximately 190 to 150 in the past year, creating a safer environment in the facility. But that resulted in roughly $200,000 less from the state because the funding formula relies on the number of inmates.

And because the county receives state funding for the jails, commissioners are required by statute to limit spending to a certain amount. Despite preparing a “bare-bones budget” where Samson eliminated all capital improvements, cars, radios and other upgrades from his budget, the jail budget is still $200,000 too high.

“I carry around a pocket full of magic bullets, but I’m fresh out,” Post said.

“We have nothing left to give. There’s nothing left to cut,” Samson said, who added he is hopeful for another supplemental budget from the Legislature.

The county received an additional $180,000 from the Legislature this year.

Commissioners will hold a public hearing next Wednesday to get input before they prepare their budget, which they hope to present to the Budget Committee on Sept. 28.

Norman Beauparlant of Poland and Joseph Grube of Lewiston were the only Budget Committee members who attended Wednesday’s budget hearing.

In other business:

• The search for an information technology director continues. The $44,000 salary budgeted by commissioners has attracted little interest thus far.

• Utilizing the expertise from one of the inmates, Facilities Director David Cote said the county saved thousands of dollars in masonry work repairing the granite stairs in front of the building.

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