BANGOR – City councilors took out their paring knives Wednesday and began work on the first few rounds of cuts to the $74.7 million budget for municipal and school operations proposed for the year ahead.

At the start of the budget session, City Manager Edward Barrett said any spending additions have to be offset with reductions elsewhere in the budget or a vote to override the new state limits on municipal and school spending.

After a three-hour budget workshop during which more than a dozen changes were made, councilors had cut $21,870 from the proposed budget and decided not to fund another $175,000 in budget requests. That left a balance of $412,156 in budget requests to be determined.

The deliberations began with a list of $685,350 in potential budget additions and $32,540 in potential reductions.

Eliminated were funding for transportation for private school students, public bus service for the airport area and evenings, economic development marketing and contractual services, staff support for the parks and recreation department’s senior citizens program, and council participation in a state-sponsored trade mission to France.

Funding also was cut for two of the three councilors previously budgeted to attend the National League of Cities annual March conference.

In addition, the Fourth of July Corp., the Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau, the East-West Highway Association and the Hammond Street Senior Center and the Bangor Public Library will not receive as much support as they requested. In most cases, contributions to those groups will be 15 percent less than they received this year.

In terms of personnel, councilors decided to cut two of the four Fire Department posts and two of the four Public Works posts recommended for elimination.

They decided to keep the remaining Fire and Public Works positions on the table, as well as a Police Department position, in case funding should somehow become available between now and June 29, the day the budget goes up for final adoption.

The busing money for private schools has been controversial. Last week, several residents attended a council budget meeting to urge councilors to fund transportation.

The city has provided busing for Bangor residents who attend All Saints, Bangor Christian and John Bapst Memorial High schools as a matter of courtesy for several years, but it has never been a requirement.

The money has come from the municipal budget, not the school budget. Until recently, the city received partial reimbursement, but the state has discontinued its share of the funding “without bothering to tell anyone,” Finance Director Debbie Cyr said.

After discussing the matter, most of the city’s nine councilors said they just couldn’t support spending the $98,700 requested.

“In principle, I don’t agree with any of it,” Councilor John Cashwell said. “I believe it’s time to fish or cut bait on this particular issue,” noting that the city’s public schools were well-funded and some of the best in the state.

“The choice, in my opinion, is up to the parents of those kids,” he said.

Councilor Dan Tremble said he’d received a great deal of e-mail in support of the funding, but added that he’d heard from many who were surprised to learn that the city funded it in the first place.