LOCKPORT — The candidates for town supervisor didn’t have a public debate before the election, but they had one Wednesday night at the Town Board meeting.

David J. Mongielo, who lost to incumbent Marc R. Smith by a 2-1 margin Tuesday, had it out with Smith during the public comment period in Town Hall.

“If I had $10,000, I probably could have beaten you,” said Mongielo, an auto shop owner who faces summonses and a lawsuit from the town over alleged illegal operation of a flashing sign in front of his business.

“The election’s over. You’re talking about politics in the people’s house,” Smith replied. Later he added, “At this point, it’s strictly sour grapes.”

Mongielo, a registered Republican who ran as the Democratic nominee after losing to Smith in the GOP primary, used his sign board to promote his candidacy in the last days of the campaign. That sign and some yard signs referred viewers to Mongielo’s Web site, mylockport.com.

“It’s disappointing that only 2,700 people showed up to vote after all my ‘watch my video’ signs,” Mongielo said.

“It is not your Lockport. It’s our Lockport,” Smith said. “When you come in this building, you take a solemn oath to leave politics at the door. You have done nothing from a year ago but come in this building and harass staff. . . . The election’s over. I’m sorry. You lost.”

But at the end of the meeting, Smith took the microphone to respond to charges by his opponent that the town was deeply in debt.

Figures from Budget Director Robert A. Lipp showed the town has $13 million in bonded debt and is paying about 10 percent of it off per year.

Smith said, “The town did ring up some debt in the Floyd Snyder years,” referring to the tenure of a former supervisor who held office from 1962 to 1995. “To my knowledge, we haven’t incurred any more debt in the past eight years. We are dramatically paying down that debt.”

Smith said that by 2012, the debt will be half what it was when he took office.

Also Wednesday, the board approved a $14.1 million budget for 2010. Smith said the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will see a decrease of $1.69 in his taxes and fees.

“We have a record of six years where we haven’t increased the fees to our residents,” Smith said.

Town employees and department heads will receive 3 percent raises, but Smith and the four board members will see no pay increase. Smith is paid $42,642 per year; the board members, $9,061 each.

The board also approved the 2010 contractual payments to the five fire companies serving parts of the town, which reflect average increases of almost 3 percent. South Lockport will be paid $309,281; Wrights Corners and Rapids each $294,473; Terry’s Corners $22,953; and Gasport $20,480.

The Niagara County SPCA was awarded a three-year contract extension to house the town’s stray animals, at an unchanged price of $811.92 per month, or $9,743 per year. Wednesday was the deadline to bid on the contract. The Eastern Niagara Animal Welfare Alliance, which had made a presentation to the board this summer, did not bid.