Auburn Finance Committee Opens FY2027 Budget With $947,000 Projected Shortfall

AUBURN -- December 10, 2025, Auburn Finance Committee kicks off FY2027 budget season with a $947,434 projected deficit. Town Accountant Karen Haro presented a first-look budget to the Finance Committee on December 10, projecting total appropriations of $88.994 million against revenues of $88.046 million, with the gap driven primarily by a 14 percent health insurance increase of $1.274 million and an 11 percent Worcester Regional Retirement assessment hike of $633,629. Town Manager Dory Vekio said the numbers are preliminary and pledged to pursue health insurance and general insurance bids to reduce costs, while noting the town is self-insured with a healthy trust. Vice Chair Michael Marshall observed that the two largest cost drivers alone account for nearly $2 million in new expenses, saying "if those were both 5 percent increases, there wouldn't really be a deficit anymore." The committee also approved two DPW budget transfers, $2,500 for a new work-order tracking software license and $6,100 for an Eddie Pond Dam inspection, and heard that the town's combined free cash and stabilization balance stands at 23.3 percent of operating revenue, above the 20 percent policy benchmark, with a Department of Local Services audit expected to prompt a formal review of financial reserve policies last updated in 2015.