BREWER — City Manager Harold Parks presented the City Council on Tuesday night with a fiscal year 1997 gross operating budget of $6,369,077.

Parks said the proposed budget represents an increase of $269,566, or 4.4 percent, over the 1996 budget of $6,099,511. It does not include about $220,000 of one-time capital projects and expenditures.

The proposed budget is based on an estimated valuation of $375,126,310 for 1996, which represents a 2 percent increase over the 1995 valuation of $367,770,900. The city’s final valuation will not be available until May or June.

Parks said that the four major increases affecting the budget this year are: wages and salaries; Maine State Retirement System costs; debt service; and hydrant rental, for a total of $468,968.

Using graphs and pie charts, Parks compared the proposed budget with past budgets and explained the increases, many of which were caused by state and federal mandates, such as sewer and waste water treatment plant improvements, the new ozone water treatement plant, and cutbacks in former state funding.

Parks said the submitted budget had expanded with more budget accounts for the larger departments in keeping with council requests. In the past, the Police Department had one large account, but now has five separate accounts. Other departments were broken down in a similar manner.

Parks told the councilors that even though the public works department has some serious equipment replacement needs, no new equipment was included in the budget this year in order to keep the tax increase down.

He said the budget was further reduced by transferring the regular annual appropriations for paving, approximately $50,000, and the police cruiser replacement account of approximately $25,000 from the operating budget to the list of one-time capital projects and equipment purcases. Those one-time purchases are funded from the undesignated fund account.

While that is an advantage in reducing the property tax for this year, there can be no assurance such funds will available in coming years, said Parks.

The manager’s separation of the capital projects and equipment from the operating budget, and using surplus funds to pay for the projects, calls for:

City manager computer system upgrade, $7,787.

City Hall sound system for council chambers, $2,000.

Police retirement payout, for two officers, $8,000.

Police Department computer system upgrade, $5,559.

Fire Department retirement payout for three officers, $20,000.

Fire Department, 10 additional breathing apparatus Air Pacs at $25,000.

A seminar to familiarize the city’s code enforcement officer with the 1996 BOCA building code, $1,000.

Public works paving projects, $50,000.

A public works garage consultant study to bring the public works department into the 21st century, $25,000.

A public works department computer system upgrade, $9,804.

A city mapping project to continue to get all of the city’s sewer, water, tax and zoning maps digitalized and in the city’s computers, $9,804.

A reserve allowance for the 1997 new police cruiser account, $25,000.

A new vacuum cleaner and a fax machine for the public works department, $1,000.

A citywide computer upgrade program, Step 2, $27,754; and Step 3, $6,950.

Parks said the total for the capital projects and equipment called for an expenditure of $221,854.

For the next few months, the councilors will go over the proposed budget with the various department heads, and will meet with the school board to review the school budget.