What a difference a century makes.

While putting together the Auburn city budget this year, councilors had to work around rising consumer and labor costs, and an increase in debt services. In doing so, they made some tough decisions to cut funding in departments, along with some staff positions, in order to keep the budget from increasing the tax rate dramatically.

Still, the amount coming from taxation rose by 10%.

The $137.9 million budget took effect July 1.

That’s a far cry from the budget their predecessors put forward for 1927, when the city budget came in at $763,443, or $14.7 million in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index inflation calculator.

Even then, the budget felt high to some residents, as reported in old news articles.

But it didn’t deliver anything close to services that the city now provides. Today, the state and federal government require municipalities to perform a whole host of tasks. Residents, too, demand services which would have been unthinkable to city leaders a century ago.

Labor laws implemented and strengthened through the years, such as a minimum wage and benefits, have also increased costs.

And of course there has been population growth. In 1927, Auburn had around 18,000 residents; now there are about 25,000.

With that in mind, here is a look at how the budget in five town departments has increased from 1927 to now.

ADMINISTRATION

One hundred years ago, administration costs for the city were $8,761 for the year, which would be the equivalent of $168,736 today. Next year’s administration costs are budgeted to be nearly $14.3 million.

A century ago there was no information technology. Now the city has a lot of computer and software infrastructure to keep up, contributing to driving up those costs.

Those were also the days when employers did not have to offer health insurance, which has been one of the budget drivers the past few years as rates increase.

FIRE

The Fire Department budget in 1927 was $33,009, the equivalent of $635,761 in today’s dollars. It is $7.1 million today. The city also operates emergency services, which did not exist 100 years ago.

From purchasing modern equipment that has better fire resistance to the high cost of large fire trucks, firefighting equipment costs have increased over the past 100 years. There are many federal and state mandates now around equipment, such as fire resistant suits, that did not exist a century ago, driving up department costs.

POLICE

 The police budget was $27,265 in 1927, or the equivalent of $525,130.04 today. The budget for 2026-27 is more than $5.8 million.

The Police Department had an employment cap of eight officers in the late 19th century, according to information on the city’s website. Now the department employs more than four times that many, significantly increasing its labor costs, as have greater training and safety requirements.

The department bought its first patrol motorcycles in 1921 before patrol cars came. There were only four patrol vehicles during the 1950s.

Now, the department has multiple patrol cars ordered and designed specially equipped for pursuing fleeing cars and outfitted with their communication and other needs, contributing to the rising department costs over the decades.

PUBLIC WORKS

The budget for public works has gone from $119,752 a century ago, equal to about $2.3 million today, to nearly $11.4 million in the upcoming budget.

There was no designated Public Works Department 100 years ago, according to one Lewiston Evening Journal article from 1976. There were separate departments for engineering, garbage and highway maintenance. Snow removal efforts in the state of Maine were minimal at that time, so towns weren’t budgeting for salt and other road treatments used now.

There was also an expansion of roads and utility infrastructure nationwide in the 1930s and 1940s under President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration, building out roads that towns and states continue to maintain today, contributing to the increase in public works costs.

LIBRARY

Though the Auburn Public Library is an independent nonprofit, it is heavily subsidized by the city and has been for more than a century. In 1927 the city gave the library $8,500 in funding, which would be $163,709 today. The 2026-27 library budget is nearly $1.2 million.

Library costs have crept up over the decades to keep up with rising labor costs and building maintenance. The library building is more than 100 years old and is owned by the city, which is responsible for all upkeep, contributing to those rising costs.