AUBURN — With $160,000 at stake, expect the city’s funding for the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council to get some serious scrutiny as budget discussions begin.

“When it comes to the Growth Council, I’m in favor at this point of defunding them,” Councilor Andy Titus said. “I don’t feel we have gotten enough information to show the benefits we get from them. People talk about the past, going back 25 years, to show the good things the Growth Council has done. But we are looking at the recent past and what we expect from economic development going forward.”

Councilors have started setting their agenda for the 2016-17 budget discussions. City Manager Howard Kroll is scheduled to present his draft budget to the council on April 11, but councilors will be reviewing their capital plan, community development funding and the School Department budget this month.

Councilor Bob Stone said one of his biggest concerns is the city’s small fund balance, at about 6 percent according to the latest audited annual report. City ordinances say that balance should be 12.5 percent of the city’s annual spending, enough to operate the city for six weeks in case of an emergency.

In the past, councilors have used money from the fund balance to lower the property tax rate, and that won’t happen this year, Stone said.

“We need to build our reserves back to 12.5 percent, and one way to do that is to make sure what we spend is spent efficiently as possible and that we get results from the places we are spending,” Stone said.

That has councilors looking for places to save money, and Stone said the Growth Council seems like the best place to start. Lewiston and Auburn pay the council for economic development services. Auburn’s share has been $160,000. The Growth Council is managed by its board of Twin Cities business owners and residents.

“In the upcoming budget, we should be looking at what we spend on the Growth Council and see if we need to look for a different way to do economic development,” he said.

He suggested putting all economic development projects in the hands of city staff.

“We need results,” he said. “I’ve looked at the last 10 years of property valuation and it’s flat. So that tells me that whatever we are doing to bring in new value is just not working. And we can’t continue to have flat-lined property values continue to fund the services that people want.”

But Councilor Grady Burns disagreed, saying the Growth Council is a valuable place for Lewiston-Auburn businesses to work together.

“I do believe the Growth Council and the work it is doing is essential for the long-term success, not only of Auburn but of the Twin Cities as a whole,” Burns said. “The stakeholders it’s been able to pull together from both sides of the river, I think, is an important component of our overall economic development strategy.”

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