Lincoln residents will soon pay more for water, sewer and cell phones. The City Council okay-ed Lincoln's budget, including tax increases in those areas.

However, several members said they saved money too while maintaining services.

The council approved the budget by a 4 to 3 vote, right along party lines, with Democrats on the winning end. That led to some controversy, even though this year's budget is less than last year's.

Republicans thought more taxes could be cut. They blamed the Democrats.

"Everybody just said off-handed, 'you don't have the votes.' That's not a compromise," said Councilman Adam Hornung.

Right down the line, Republicans blamed the majority party Democrats for shoving the budget down their throats.

"I'm disappointed. We just needed communication. There is not transparency here," said Councilman Jon Camp.

The Democrats, however, refused to accept the criticism.

"The fact that Councilman Camp didn't get communicated with, unfortunately, just because you didn't hear what you want to hear doesn't mean you weren't told or communicated with," said Councilman Doug Emery.

The most heated debate came not over the budget itself, but a related item, the telecommunications tax. It will raise the average cell phone bill about $.40. Republicans said the tax is unnecessary. Democrats said the city needs the money to keep up services.

"Sales tax revenue is down and the city needs another revenue stream," said Councilman Eugene Carroll. "We cannot provide the services we have, that we need to provide to the citizens, without revenue."

"This tax is starting to sound like the virus, like we're short on property tax and sales tax, so the virus just keeps on taking," countered Hornung.

However the Democrats scored a compelling argument when Councilman Jonathan Cook pointed out that this year's budget should be $139 million if adjusted for inflation over the past three years. Instead, it's $135 million, down $82,000 from last year according to Cook.

"The idea that somehow we're this rogue government that's just spending wildly and that's why we want to raise taxes... I think that that's completely wrong, it's uninformed," said Councilman Jonathan Cook.

Last year council members thanked each other for the hard budget work, this year Council Chair Emery said simply, lets move past this.

Many of Mayor Chris Beutler's proposals were included in the final budget. In a statement he says:

"The budget includes funding for important services, such as libraries, pools and recreation center hours. It includes economic development initiatives, such as the Fast Forward Fund and the Development Services Center. It makes wise use of stimulus funds for police officers to keep our city safe. We were able to accomplish all this while spending less dollars than last year and rejecting budget gimmicks. It's a budget that provides taxpayers the services they need and the efficiencies they demand."

The mayor also thanked Lincoln City Council member for working hard on the budget.

As for the water and sewer tax, it will raise the average monthly bill $.75.