AUBURN — The City Council voted 6-1 to approve next year’s $87.6 million budget during a final reading Monday.
Councilors also voted 6-1 to pass $8.49 million in bond spending toward next year’s Capital Improvement Plan.
The final CIP included a few amendments, including the removal of a $125,000 event floor for Norway Savings Bank Arena, and restored funding of $25,000 toward Museum L-A. During the previous meeting, councilors cut funding toward Auburn’s portion of architectural fees to $15,000.
In a 4-3 vote, the CIP failed in its first reading June 4. The bonds needed five affirmative votes to pass.
The votes Monday mark the end of Auburn’s budget season, which was thrown off track last month when a $900,000 assessing error was found, leaving a shortfall for the current budget year as well as next year.
Councilor Andrew Titus, known as fiscally conservative, said he voted in favor of the budget because of how the city department’s responded following the issue. But, he said, fiscal year (2019-20) “will be the real telling tale.”
He said yearly increases in salaries in benefits will be too much for taxpayers to handle if Auburn wants growth in other areas.
Councilor Holly Lasagna said she’s hoping for “a more robust” budget process next year — one that begins earlier.
Prior to the final vote, Councilor Belinda Gerry proposed a budget amendment to restore $59,000 in funding to the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee, which had been cut from the current year budget.
She said that by restoring the funds, “we’ll add a bus that was cut in Auburn” and that it would decrease service time.
Among those against the measure was Mayor Jason Levesque, though he did not have a vote.
“If you can’t help yourself and get a stable house in order, you can’t rely on municipalities,” he said, referring to the transit system.
At a previous budget workshop, Levesque told the LATC that its Citylink bus system should be replaced by private enterprise, such as Uber.
Ultimately, the motion to add the funding failed by a 4-3 vote.
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