AUBURN — The proposed 2025 Androscoggin County budget is nearly $2 million more than last year, raising county taxes by more than 15%, according to figures released Wednesday night by County Administrator Jeffrey Chute.

Chute announced the proposed spending plan of $20.31 million at a county commission workshop. It is 10.61% more than this year’s $18.37 million.

A majority of the increase is for fixed costs such as salary increases from union contracts, a 2.54% cost-of-living adjustment for nonunion employees, a new budget line to compensate employees for unused vacation time upon separation or retirement, and the reestablishment of a county reserve account.

The reserve accounts have been depleted to lessen the tax impact, Chute said.

Perhaps the largest increase will be the cost of boarding of prisoners in other facilities due to overcrowding at the Androscoggin County Jail, Chute said. The average headcount at the jail is 215 inmates, while the jail is rated by the state to serve 160 inmates. This situation forces the county to pay to send inmates to other facilities in the state.

County revenues are projected to decrease by more than $200,000, or 4.61%. Much of this deficit comes from the jail’s overcrowding issue. Due to high headcounts, the facility can no longer house federal prisoners, which previously brought in revenue.

Utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funds has allowed the county to make purchases that would normally be part of the operating budget. These one-time purchases have minimized the impact on the budget, Chute said.

During its regular meeting held before the budget workshop, commissioners heard additional requests for ARPA spending.

After receiving $500,000 from commissioners for facility rehabilitation, the Franco Center requested an additional $350,000 to cover revenue lost during the pandemic. Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin asked for an additional $18,500 to expand programming.

The largest request came from the Sheriff’s Office, which is seeking more than $700,000 for various equipment across patrol, communications and the jail.

The jail is requesting $39,295 for two exam tables with lights, an EKG machine, a digital scale, seven Tasers, a stun belt and four additional security cameras.

Communications is requesting $394,000 in upgrades, including console upgrades, improvements to communication towers, replacement of radio control stations and updates to the TAC1 simulcast radio system.

Patrol is asking for $272,422 for safety upgrades following the mass shooting last October and the June 15 incident in Auburn, where a man shot one person, set a couple of homes on fire, and fired at several police officers, including four county deputies.

Requested items for the patrol division include 27 higher-quality body armor sets, 27 white phosphor night-vision goggles, eight pepper ball tactical systems, eight ballistic shields, 40 Glock handguns with Aimpoint optics, and two new rifles with optics.

Commissioners made no decisions on the ARPA requests.

Commissioners will review the budget over the next three weeks and could make cuts before sending it to the Budget Committee next month.