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Auburn leaders kick off FY27 budget talks as schools warn of salary, health and special‑education costs
Summary
The Auburn school superintendent and city manager presented preliminary FY27 budgets Feb. 2, telling councilors their proposals aim to maintain existing services while managing pressure from contractual salary increases, a projected health‑insurance spike and rising special‑education costs; a $11.2M middle‑school CIP was proposed to add sixth grade.
The Auburn School Department and city finance leaders opened the FY27 budget process on Feb. 2, describing a preliminary plan focused on maintaining current services while absorbing mandated and contractual cost increases.
"This budget reflects contractual and mandated cost increases and we are focusing right now on maintaining services," Superintendent Dr. Doris told the council, noting three principal drivers: contractual salary increases (about $1.38 million), an anticipated 15% rise in health‑insurance costs (around $1.1 million) and roughly $1 million in additional special‑education expenses driven by mandated staffing, placements and transportation.
The superintendent said personnel account for about 80% of the school department’s operating costs and emphasized the proposal does not add new staff or programs. She also outlined a capital‑improvement project for Auburn Middle School: an $11.2 million CIP request that would include roughly $5 million for an addition to accommodate sixth grade and $6.2 million for unavoidable building systems and infrastructure work. "We would target this change to happen in the fall of 2028," she said, adding the move could shift about 240 students to the middle school and create elementary‑school capacity that could allow consolidation over time.
City Manager Phil Croll presented the municipal side as a "current services" budget with a preliminary 15% increase driven largely by fixed costs — notably debt service tied to a voter‑approved public‑safety bond. He said the city’s debt service line is up about 44% and repeated an example figure for that debt service of roughly $6.8 million. "Of those key drivers, 77% of the increase is a fixed cost," Croll said, noting limited discretion in reducing the early estimates and that staff will refine numbers ahead of council budget deliberations in March.
Councilors asked for the presentation slides and more detailed line‑item comparisons; the superintendent said final health‑insurance rates should be known in April. Council members also requested more material on the proposed middle‑school expansion, including pros and cons and how the change would affect elementary configurations and long‑term operating savings.
Next steps: staff will confirm and refine budget drivers in the coming weeks, present more detailed materials to the council and begin the formal budget review work sessions in March. The council will need to consider a target overall increase to guide tradeoffs when the line‑item work begins.
