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.