AUBURN — The City Council will hold a public hearing and first reading Monday on next year’s proposed $121.8 million budget for municipal, school and county spending, which reflects a 5.96% increase from the current year.

If approved as is, the fiscal 2025 budget — which runs from July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025 — would result in a $1.36 increase to the property tax rate. However, Finance Director Kelsey Earle said, an expected increase in citywide valuation will likely reduce the projected impact to the tax rate.

At $24.11 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, it would add roughly $204 to the annual tax bill of a resident with a home valued at $150,000 or $340 to a home valued at $250,000.

The proposed municipal budget stands at $54.25 million, with the school budget at $62.12 million and county budget at $3.11 million. The School Committee approved next year’s budget on April 24, and will also receive a council vote Monday in order to send it along to the school budget validation referendum on June 11.

In his budget message to councilors this spring, City Manager Phil Crowell said workforce demands, a jump in General Assistance demand and increased debt service for projects like the new Public Safety facility were major drivers of the increase.

Crowell said the city had numerous unsettled collective bargaining agreements during the previous two fiscal years, and as a result, the coming year has roughly $1 million in previous years’ negotiated wages and benefits.

“This increase alone is a more than 4% increase to the overall municipal operating budget,” he said.

In all, workforce costs make up 39% of the budget increase.

The proposed General Assistance budget for fiscal 2025 is $901,200, which is a large jump from the fiscal 2024 approved budget of $180,825 — a 398% increase.

Crowell said that while the state will reimburse 70% of those costs, the responsibility to deliver the services falls to the municipality, and not included in the increase is the cost of administering the services, which requires two additional positions to meet state law requirements in delivering services in a timely manner.

Crowell’s budget memo also highlights Auburn’s numerous capital infrastructure projects, including the new Public Safety facility supported by voters last November. He said managing the projects and the federal funding requirements “will be a significant demand on our resources.”

The increase in debt service represents 25% of the overall budget increase.

A super majority vote of the council is required in order to pass a budget increase greater than the Consumer Price Index-Urban (CPI-U), which sits at 4.1%.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

No candidates on ballot for two seats on Androscoggin County Commission

Next »

Body discovered in woods near Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge in Lewiston