BY DOUG HARLOW

Staff Writer

Budget cuts ordered by the governor's office for the coming year are not aimed at reducing the law enforcement presence in central Maine, but rather are a challenge to identify alternative ways to reduce spending in tough times, a top aide to the governor said Monday.

So as department heads look for ways to trim their budgets by 10 percent, the question is what and where to cut, said David Farmer, deputy chief of staff for Gov. John Baldacci.

"The governor has been, in the past, very reluctant to make cuts to frontline law enforcement, including state troopers, game wardens and marine patrol officers, and that is true now," Farmer said. "He is looking at potential alternatives to the proposals that were put forward by the Department of Public Safety."

Farmer's comments Monday came in response to statements last week in which the Kennebec and Somerset County district attorney, county sheriffs and state police said homicide investigations are taking investigators away from sexual-assault and sex-abuse crimes.

Law enforcement and prosecutors fear additional budget cuts will make matters worse.

Farmer said Baldacci's office has asked all agencies and departments with a law enforcement component to resubmit their budget proposals to include alternative spending cuts.

Salaries, lease increases, replacement of fixtures and equipment, training and secretarial pooling are being scrutinized in all state departments and agencies, including Public Safety, added Ryan Low, commissioner of the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services.

Low said the biggest budget load in any department comes in personnel and salaries.

"Asking them for the proposals, it's never a surprise when they come back and propose to lay off troopers because it's the only way they are going to get to the targets we have assigned them," Low said. "One of the reasons we ask folks to do this is to give them the opportunity to think outside the box.

"Every position in state police is not a frontline law enforcement officer. The Department of Public Safety is a big operation, so maybe between the Gambling Control Board and the state police and the vehicle-enforcement unit, maybe there's an opportunity to somehow pool administrative resources, so instead of having three administrative secretaries, you only have one, as an example."

The governor's two-year budget proposal will be submitted to the Legislature on Jan. 9. The final content of that package has not been determined, but it must make up for revenues that are expected to decline by $330 million and an additional $508 million in budget requests that were sought to keep state government operating at its current level of service, Farmer said.

"In reality, we're looking at an $838 million situation that we have to resolve," he said. "Part of it is declining revenues and part of it due to the normal growth and expenditures that the government or any business would have moving forward."

Farmer said Maine's district attorneys, who also have been asked to cut spending by 10 percent, did not submit a plan to trim their budgets.

"The DAs have refused to offer any reductions at all to their offices, shifting more burden onto other parts of state government, including the state police," Farmer said. "The district attorneys are one of the very few agencies in state government that, when asked to put forward a way they could reduce spending, came forward with absolutely no reductions -- not a single suggestion of savings."

He said district attorneys face the same responsibilities -- and budget cuts -- as state police, the attorney general's office, the state judiciary and the governor's office itself.

Evert Fowle, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties, said he does not want a fight with the governor's office, but disagrees with Farmer's assessment.

He said district attorneys in Maine did submit reductions to comply with the governor's order.

"There are 77 assistant district attorneys that are not getting a merit raise this year -- they've only had two in the last seven years." Fowle said. "We're down three prosecutors right now -- I'm down one, Androscoggin's down one and Portland's down one."

Fowle said the governor's office wanted to eliminate nine assistant district attorney positions.

He said such cuts in prosecutors would be difficult to do while still meeting critical needs.

Fowle said he does not have the option of deferring computer purchases for two years or not filling a vacant secretarial position because much of that is funded by the counties.

"For reasons (such as) the increasing rate of violent crime, the homicides numbers -- one-quarter are drug related -- cocaine and heroin and the epidemic in addictions in this area," he said. "There were a number of reasons we didn't think that we could, in good conscience, recommend specific nine district attorney positions for elimination."

Fowle said a meeting with the governor's budget office has been scheduled for next week.

"We're certainly not angry with the governor and we understand it's a very difficult, stressful time for budget planners in the state," he said.

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534 ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com