AUGUSTA -- More job cuts, a reduction in school aid, a smaller state police canine unit and human services cuts are among suggestions from state department heads who were directed to find ways to balance the state budget.

"It's the first step in a six-week process before we finalize a supplemental budget," said Ryan Low, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.

Many of the suggestions from department heads may be overruled or changed significantly as Low works with Gov. John Baldacci to come up with at least $200 million in savings, he said.

Still, it's the start of another round of cuts to the state's $5.8 billion two-year budget, and Low said the amount that will ultimately need to be cut will be "north of $200 million for sure."

Earlier this month, Baldacci directed his department heads to meet specific targets for budget cuts. The larger the department, the bigger the cut.

The Department of Health and Human Services has a target of $64 million, while K-12 education has been told to cut about $38 million. Those two departments make up 72 percent of the state budget.

DHHS Commissioner Brenda Harvey emphasized that her staff did not want to implement many of the suggestions and that she expects Baldacci and the Legislature to make changes.

"We're looking at every one of our accounts and we're trying to be as surgical as we've been in the past," she said. "There's a little here, a little there."

In fact, Harvey's department did not meet its $64 million target, but put forward proposals for about $50 million. Among them are reductions in room-and-board funding that goes to group homes, a $500,000 cut to the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, and a reduction in the number of hours of service for those with physical disabilities, Harvey said.

Also, the proposal calls for a reduction in funding for the Low Cost Drugs for the Elderly and Disabled benefit, which helps those who are not eligible for Medicare Part D, according to the proposal.

When it comes to jobs, the DHHS proposal suggests eliminating 71/2 positions, but does not specify from which part of the department.

Harvey said DHHS has been cutting the state-funded portion of its budget every year since 2002.

"We are doing business with 300 less employees and are serving 120,000 to 130,000 more people," she said.

In education, the majority of the proposed budget cut comes in General Purpose Aid to Schools, which is the state's portion of education funding.

The proposal is to cut $37 million from GPA, with smaller cuts in other areas to make up the difference.

Education Commissioner Susan Gendron told the Legislature's Education Committee earlier this week that she's concerned the state could lose out on federal funds if it makes cuts in the wrong places. At that same meeting, the university system, which is expected to reduce spending by $15 million, warned of the need to cut the equivalent of 100 full-time positions over the next two years.

For other agencies, the budget cutting target was smaller, but so are their budgets.

Here's a sample of other proposed cuts:

* Four positions, through attrition or layoffs, at the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.

* A delay in payroll for district attorneys and assistant district attorneys, which will mean those employees will go four weeks without a paycheck.

* The elimination of five positions at the Department of Conservation, including one forester and one senior planner who reviews development in the unorganized territories.

* A reduction in the funding for emergency dam repairs and reconstruction.

* Cuts in scholarships for medical students and loans to student borrowers.

* Reducing the number of state police canine teams from 20 to eight

* Reducing the number of team members on the state police crisis negotiation team, from 12 to six.

* A freeze on four vacant state police trooper positions.

Low said he will now begin two weeks of one-on-one meetings with department officials then sit down with the governor to put together a supplemental budget for the Legislature.

"The last couple of weeks in November and early December, we'll be working with the governor around the clock to formulate a supplemental budget," he said.

Susan Cover -- 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com