WINSLOW — A $15.6 million municipal and county spending plan for fiscal year 2027 includes expected steep costs for emergency services and ongoing sewage and infrastructure projects.

The proposed spending plan is expected to increase the property tax rate from $14.85 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $15.40 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, although the final tax rate won’t be calculated until August.

Under this proposal, a home with a median value of $285,000,would have a property tax bill of $4,389. But the revaluation currently underway means the property tax rate could be lower than projected.

So where can residents expect to see spending go?

The proposed municipal budget would increase by 15%

Town Manager Marc Amaral said spending increases were necessary in his first budget season with the town. But he’s also looking ahead.

“How do we slow down the increases in the future? There are some necessary increases this year. We needed these,” Amaral said. “I’m also looking at the big picture and going, ‘OK, moving forward, we can’t keep doing this.’ I don’t want to see a $40 million budget next year; we’re not going to be able to sustain this.” The combined school, county and municipal budget for the town is expected to top $37.3 million.

Amaral said around 7% of this year’s increases come from contractual obligations and insurance costs. The rest, he said, are necessary for the town. The proposed municipal budget is $15,633,086.

“There aren’t many areas where we can cut, right?” Amaral said. “You have department heads here in the town office wearing a million hats each.”

Currently, the proposed municipal budget would require $8,446,668, around 54%, be raised through taxation, although this will likely change in the coming weeks.

Amaral’s initial municipal budget proposal, which was about $500,000 lower than the current spending plan, included raises for department heads, who he said have been underpaid for their roles.

The town council rejected those increases.

Sewer costs drive increases

Winslow is on its third of five years of planned sewer rate increases, which are meant to account for debt service from the Chaffee Brook project. The pump station, last updated in 1998, is undergoing $8 million in renovations, financed largely by bonds.

Ahead of the town’s fiscal year 2024 budget, town officials said sewer revenues were not keeping pace with operating costs and they appropriated $400,000 for the Chaffee Brook project from the sewer fund balance.

The fiscal year 2024 budget increased sewer fees by 25%, and the council voted to further increase fees by 10% annually for the following five years to fund the Chaffee Brook and other projects’ anticipated debt service.

The fiscal year 2027 spending plan predicts an increase over 40% to sewage expenditures. The increase to the debt service connected to this is expected to be $423,000.

Emergency service costs are on the rise

Under the current budget plan, the police department budget would increase by $128,000, an 8.7% increase over the current year, which covers contractual wage increases and a new administration position.

The fire department’s budget would increase by almost 23%, with $137,000 for three paramedic positions, not including insurance and benefits, on top of contractual wage increases.

These proposed increases come as emergency services calls are on the rise in Winslow and across Maine, and emergency response resources are continually strained.

Town councilors are expected to vote on the budget proposal at their next two meetings, set for .6 p.m. Monday and 6 p.m. April 27.

The town council meets at the Winslow Public Library at 136 Halifax St.