AUBURN – A new City Hall, parking garages, a riverwalk and stable taxes – Joe S. DeFilipp is proud of all of those things.

“I’ve had the opportunity to affect the community for the next 50 to 100 years,” DeFilipp said. “And affect it positively. That was all the leadership of these past few councils, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

But DeFilipp said his work isn’t done, not yet.

“I want to see the downtown plan completed and continue making the city government as frugal as possible,” he said.

“It’s a struggle, always, between balancing the needs and just cutting taxes,” he added.

The city has done a good job in the past few years of keeping property taxes low, with a level tax rate this year.

“I’d say that’s a hallmark of my time in office,” DeFilipp said.

“The city has kept the tax rate from increasing less than the inflation rate for my entire time in office. So we are growing government slower than we are growing the rest of the economy,” he said.

City staff has been a big part of that, he said. He credited City Manager Pat Finnigan and her staff for keeping the budget level and city debt dropping.

“We operate on a very professional basis,” he said. “Take, for example, our cable system. We have two competing systems and choices for our citizens. But that didn’t just happen. Our staff went out and made that happen for our citizens.”

The city’s success has led to conflicts, however.

“In the past, there were people and bureaucracies that always got their own way,” DeFilipp said. “The city was only responsive to some of the people, those that were deemed important.”

That’s changed, he said.

“We’ve managed to make services much more democratic, and available to everyone,” he said. “That’s a problem for those bureaucracies, and bureaucracies have their own constituents.”

The budget battles with the school district are an example, he said. When the schools faced budget cuts this summer, they responded by scaring parents.

“There really were no dire circumstances, but that didn’t stop them from creating a panic,” DeFilipp said.

He said he counts the city’s taxpayers chief among his constituents. He favors lowering taxes, but thinks the proposed 1 percent property tax cap would be a disaster.

“The idea is legitimate, but it’s been poorly thought out here,” he said. “If it did (pass), anyone that wanted services would find themselves billed for it – every time Auburn Rescue rolled up, they’d get a bill. I just don’t see any other way to handle it.”