Augusta holds public hearing on revenue-neutral rate and proposed 2026 budget; city manager cites valuation increase and proposed mill-levy rise

At its September meeting, the Augusta City Council held a public hearing to collect input on the revenue-neutral rate and the proposed 2026 budget. City Manager Josh outlined the budget process, changes to the city's assessed valuation and a proposed mill-levy increase.

Josh, the city manager, opened the presentation by emphasizing the work behind the document: "the budget process is 1 of the most important processes that the the city council and staff engage in every year," and said the council had met multiple times and spent many hours preparing the proposal.

The staff presentation said the city's assessed valuation increased by about $2,972,000 for 2026 compared with 2025. "For 2026, you can see that our assessed valuation increased compared to 2025. It went up about $2,972,000," Josh said. He explained that valuation can grow because of new construction or changes in appraised values.

On the tax rate, Josh told the council that the budget published for public consideration includes "a mill levy increase of about 4.05 mills, which pushes it from last year's number of 56.455 to 60.505." He added that not all city funds are supported by property taxes and identified five tax-supported funds shown in the staff materials: the general fund, library, library employee benefit, employee benefit and bond and interest.

Josh described the two separate hearings the council would conduct: one on the revenue-neutral rate and a second on the budget document itself. He did not introduce a final adoption motion during the presentation; the session was a public hearing and briefing rather than a final vote.

Council members and staff discussed terms such as assessed valuation and mill levy and reviewed the staff packet and step-by-step timeline for adoption. The presentation noted that the assessed valuation trend has risen in recent years after a period of stagnation between roughly 2008 and 2015.

Next steps noted by staff include the separate public hearing on the budget document and subsequent actions required for adoption; no adoption vote on the 2026 budget was recorded at the hearing.

The council's public hearing provided attendees an opportunity to question staff on the mechanics of the tax-rate calculation and where tax-supported funds appear in the published budget.