PARIS — Now comes the hard part. 

More than 30 residents, concerned that the rise in taxes is strangling their businesses and homes, told selectmen Monday evening that the town budget must be slashed to give them financial breathing space. 

The special workshop was a forum for residents to weigh in on possible budget cuts after the town’s mill rate jumped unexpectedly by 40 cents to $18.30 per thousand dollars of assessed property value. 

In June, voters approved a $4.2 million budget; 2014’s budget was $4.13 million. 

Town officials have said the jump is driven by a hike in its school bill and less-than-anticipated taxable value, which shrunk after nearly 500 residents had their properties readjusted following a controversial townwide reassessment. 

Though no decisions were made Monday, selectmen were supplied with an array of ideas. Residents advocated defunding the Paris Hill library, consolidating the Norway and Paris fire departments and eliminating the local police force in favor of coverage through the Sheriff’s Office. 

Terry Robinson said a small citizens’ group, possibly the Budget Committee, should oversee the process, guiding departments through tough cuts. 

Noting that the Police Department’s budget has jumped, Rick Little said they should look into hiring coverage through the Sheriff’s Office. He said the town pays roughly $725,000 for the Police Department and related capital improvement plans while the Sheriff’s Office’s latest estimate for one fewer officer was $550,000.

“That needs to be looked into,” Forrie Everett said. “If you can match it, you can stay. If you can’t, you gotta go.” 

Emotions flared after the forum when Paris police Sgt. Hartley “Skip” Mowatt said he was fed up with suggestions to abandon the force. A proposal to merge Norway and Paris’ Police Departments died in 2012. 

“You’ve got a hell of a (Police Department) over there, and we’ve given the town excellent service,” Mowatt said, suggesting he’d resign if it came to that. “Kick that dog so many times, that dog might bite back.” 

Spending philosophies were contradictory and selectmen likely have work ahead teasing out a solution. Everett advocated establishing a mill rate and forcing the departments to squeeze their budgets into it.

Dennis Creaser, who owns Creaser Jewelers, said that if he could do it over again, he’d start his business in Norway or Oxford.

Creaser argued that there should be a percentage cap on how much the mill rate can increase. He cautioned that unchecked government will just grow. 

“If there was a limit to the amount the town could spend, we’d have no choice but to cut,” he said.

Robert Jewell said capping a mill rate is dangerous, as it gives the town no control over external factors and could defund necessary programs. He suggested an exhaustive review of the budget was in order. 

“We’ve paid for our past sins, but you just can’t cut everything else because you get hit suddenly and didn’t do what you should have done years ago,” Jewell said.

Selectman Victor Hodgkins, a former member of the Budget Committee, sketched a broad history of rising taxes: swapping from a volunteer to a paid Fire Department, steadily allocating more money to the Fire and Police departments, a dip in state revenue sharing and an increase in the state’s evaluation of the town compared to its neighbors, which school payments, on the rise, are based upon.

“We need to decide what services you can live with, and (which) you can’t,” Hodgkins said. 

Everett, an advocate of limiting spending by setting a tax rate in advance, said, “The town’s counting on $40,000 on interest on people who can’t afford their taxes. That’s sad, people.”

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