OAKLAND — One man among about 80 residents stood at the annual town meeting to ask: Does a town need a library?

For many at the Messalonskee High School auditorium, the answer was a resounding yes.

The town’s budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which passed Tuesday, appropriates $284,828 to the public library, $249,178 of which would be raised through property tax. This is just under a $50,000 increase to this year’s library budget.

When the man, who said he hasn’t used the library in 30 years suggested discontinuing it, he questioned how many people actually visit the library, and pointed out that Waterville and Augusta have good alternatives.

“Everything’s on the internet now,” he said. “It’s just an excess of money that I’d just as soon not have to pay for.”

Town Manager Kelly Pinney-Michaud said the town runs a lot of programming through the library.

Sheila Thorne Rogers, head librarian, said between 3,000 and 4,000 patrons visit the library every year. Anyone who belongs to the library and is not a taxpayer has to pay a membership fee, she said.

Those who spoke up for the library talked about the books their families check out regularly and pointed to helpful directors, a good selection of books, public computers and a community space. One resident said it’s important to have a library catering to Oakland, just as Waterville has one for its residents.

“I think we need to preserve community-based things,” Doug Fishing said. “A lot of people get online and we get disconnected from each other. A community is vitally important for the health and well-being and continuation of our town.”

This discussion comes as Oakland sits on the verge of growth, and faces rising costs as a result.

The majority of voters approved Oakland’s $8,846,880 budget amid its first property revaluation in 30 years, as costs increase and the town struggles to keep taxes steady. It is a 4.1% increase on the current budget.

The town’s property tax rate of $15.62 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, also known as a mill rate, would increase to $16.09 with this budget, but this is likely to fall to about $9-$10 per $1,000 of assessed valuation with the revaluation.

“We are all navigating this unpredictable financial whatever’s-going-on-in-the-world environment, one that is affecting households just as much as it’s affecting the municipal budgets,” Pinney-Michaud said. “Like many communities, we continue to face challenges to keep up with market wages and inflation. Municipal work has never been a high-paying job, and although we’ve made meaningful progress in recent years, our wages are still trailing those of comparable communities in our region.”

The spending plan adds a new police officer and accounts for increasing public safety costs, including for ambulances, while cutting the paving budget by more than 50%.

Councilor Kelly Roderick said she’s happy with the final budget, but voted against raising and appropriating funds to the police department. The department brought up the need for a new patrol officer after submitting its proposed budget for review earlier this year. A new patrol officer would allow a part-time detective to move into the role full time.

Roderick said this isn’t the first time the police department has brought extra spending up late in the process; last year the town approved spending more than $125,000 for body cameras after the town meeting had already happened — and she disagrees with this method.

“I fully support the police department,” Roderick said. “I’m not in favor of allowing departments to add things into the budget after the budget is presented to the council and the budget committee in writing. If it’s that important and that much of a need … it should be considered and put into their written budget.”

The police department will receive $1.6 million in funding in the new budget, an 11% increase over the current budget.

Roderick’s vote against police funding was the only time the council disagreed on appropriating funds in the budget. Budget Committee Chair Mike Rossignol also voted against the appropriation.