Auburn council reviews FY‑26 budget as tax‑levy climb nears 10%; councilors push for cuts, clearer rec accounting

Auburn, Maine — The Auburn City Council spent a multi‑hour workshop reviewing the city manager’s FY‑26 budget proposal, which staff said currently equates to about a 9.94% tax‑levy increase (rounded to 10%). City Manager Phil told the council the package as presented puts the council “at a 9.94% tax levy increase” and that the council had previously set a 5% levy‑increase target to guide cuts and revenue changes.

Why it matters: Councilors said they want a clearer set of tradeoffs before the council approves a final number. About half of the proposed increase is driven by debt service tied to recently approved and planned capital projects, and councilors and staff debated where to find roughly $2.6 million to lower the levy toward the 5% target without cutting core public‑safety services.

City Manager Phil told the council the current difference between the manager’s proposed budget and the council’s working column includes nearly $820,000 in supplemental items the council has discussed; after offsetting companion revenues the net levy effect is described by staff as 9.94%.

Budget drivers and immediate choices Staff and councilors repeatedly returned to three budget drivers: higher debt service for planned public‑safety projects (South Main Street fire station, Marrow Road work and a new public‑safety building), collective‑bargaining and step increases for public‑safety employees, and expanded services or reclassifications that shifted staff across departmental budgets.

Phil summarized the council’s task bluntly: “The exercise, the first exercise is to talk about trying to get that down to 5%.” Councilors said that goal will require both trimming discretionary items and examining longer‑term, structurally‑embedded costs.

Third ambulance and EMS capacity The council placed the proposed third ambulance — a supplemental item in the council column — on the list for discussion. Council materials list the incremental cost for a full year at $135,500 with an expected revenue offset from billing of…