AUBURN – Citizens should get a glimpse of the city’s health Monday, according to Mayor John Jenkins.

Councilors are scheduled to vote on the first reading of the $64.9 million 2008 budget. It’s one of two public hearings on the budget. The second hearing, with a final vote on the budget, is scheduled for June 11.

Jenkins plans to discuss Auburn’s overall status before the vote. He hopes his “State of the City” address becomes a regular part of future council meetings.

“Everything we’ve done so far has been designed to get the people more involved in the public process,” he said. “This is a chance to talk to them about where we’ve been, where we are and what we still have left to do.”

City councilors and Jenkins began the year with series of meetings in each of Auburn’s five wards. Jenkins said those meetings helped inform council decisions during their budget discussions over the past month.

“There really has been an effort to control spending and keep the budget in line,” he said.

Councilors are prepared to vote on a $64.9 million spending plan. If they agree, that amounts to a $1.7 million spending increase compared to this fiscal year – about 2.7 percent. That’s about $310,000 less spending than would be allowed under a new cap councilors adopted last month.