SACO — The twin cities will be sharing a joint assessor.

The Saco City Council voted 6-1 Monday night to share a city assessor with Biddeford, following a vote last week by the Biddeford City Council to approve the arrangement.

The idea for sharing the position came after Saco’s assessor left in April to work for another municipality.

Under the plan, the city will share an assessor with Biddeford, and will also have a full-time deputy assessor and a part-time lister in Saco City Hall.

Saco city staff have estimated the arrangement will save Saco $35,000, and Biddeford staff estimate it will save the city of Biddeford about $20,000.

However, City Administrator Kevin Sutherland said the arrangement was not about saving money, but forming a partnership with Biddeford that would allow the cities to work together and learn different approaches to assessment.

Councilor Eric Cote cast the lone dissenting vote Monday. Cote said he was against the move because he believed it would not save the city money and would worsen the service, because the city would not have a full-time assessor.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].