HALLOWELL — The Hallowell City Council reversed its budget approval and cut more than $230,000 in expenses during its Monday meeting in response to a massive resident-led petition effort against the budget’s 20% property tax increase.

Since the petition to ask the council to redo its budget had already gained more than the 240 signatures needed to be officially considered, the council voted unanimously to rescind the budget approval instead of going through a referendum process, which could have taken up to 60 days.

Hallowell Mayor George Lapointe Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

Mayor George Lapointe sent a slate of $231,019 in cuts to the council on Thursday, and the council approved the cuts by a 4-2 vote, with councilors Maureen AuCoin and Patrick Wynne voting against. According to Lapointe, the cuts lead to a property tax increase to residents of about 12%, rather than the 20% increase under the reversed budget.

The cuts included $33,000 for leasing a police station, $75,000 for road paving and eliminating funding for nonprofit and community organizations, including $425 for the Hallowell Pride Alliance and $10,000 for the Hubbard Free Library.

Earlier this summer, initial estimates showed a potential 25% increase in taxes. Since then, the council has cut more than $500,000 from the municipal budget, including Monday’s cuts.

More than 120 residents showed up at the meeting, with dozens in the city hall lobby watching the meeting on a TV and about 25 people attending the meeting via Zoom.

Public comment on the budget lasted for more than an hour, and many residents said they wanted to see further cuts to the budget to move the property tax increase to 10% or below. Attendees often applauded residents demanding more cuts and a lower tax increase.

John McNaughton, a Hallowell resident who helped organize the petition, said the council should consider more serious cuts to fixed items in the budget.

“There are going to have to be some things here that are going to have to be considered that are not going to be very pleasant to somebody out there who lives in the city, but the unintended consequences of taking a 20% increase is that now everything has to be considered — everything,” McNaughton said. “And as a taxpayer, I get a little bit fatigued in hearing, ‘Oh, well, the school sent us this budget.’ I know it was voted on. ‘Oh, the county delivered us a 20-something-percent increase.’ At some point, the math makes the decision for us.”

AuCoin said she was concerned about moving too quickly in approving a new budget, which she said was a major issue with the previous approval.

AuCoin also said she was concerned about approving a mayor-proposed slate of cuts because most proposals are required to come from the council under the city’s charter, she said. Councilor Michael Frett, who made the motion to approve Lapointe’s cuts, disagreed and said the mayor is not allowed to express opinions, but should be allowed to make policy suggestions.

The cuts were approved on the condition the council would receive clearer information from the city’s assessor on why residents saw such different impacts on their taxes. Some residents saw an increase of less than 20% on their tax bill, while one woman at Monday’s meeting said her taxes had increased by more than 50%.

Several council members said they did not want this round of cuts to be the last and that they would be able to make more decisions with more information from the city assessor at the next meeting, which Lapointe said would likely be scheduled late next week.