Bath budget proposal rises 11%, property taxes projected up 1.69%

Bath homeowners are looking at a budget that grows much faster than the tax bill attached to it. City Manager Marc Meyers proposed a $24.7 million municipal budget for the next fiscal year, up $2.4 million, or 11%, while the property-tax increase is projected at 1.69%, about $30 more a year for a home valued at $300,000.

That gap is driven by where the money is going and how City Hall is paying for it. Personnel expenses, benefit costs and facility improvements make up the biggest pressure points in the proposal, but Meyers said the structure of the budget, along with reserves and separate funds, keeps the direct tax impact relatively modest. The proposal also includes a new recreation program director position, adding a staffing cost aimed at expanding programming through the Bath Recreation Commission.

The city’s capital and utility budgets are carrying some of the heaviest costs. The sewer fund is rising because of debt service tied to Bath’s voter-approved 2023 sewer bond, a $24.653 million measure meant to cover sewer-related projects over five years. City project materials say the Harward Street drainage area, the largest part of Bath’s sewage system, regularly faces overflow problems during heavy rain, and the upgrade is intended to prevent ongoing water-pollution events and protect the Kennebec River. The landfill fund is also increasing because of capital costs, wages and environmental-management needs, including gas, erosion and leachate control.

Bath’s current budget cycle is still moving toward a final vote. A budget workshop is scheduled for April 30 at City Hall, 55 Front Street, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., followed by a public hearing on May 20, also from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the third floor. The Bath City Council is scheduled to vote on the final budget June 3. The city’s finance pages say the FY 2027 proposed budget is already posted for public review.

The proposal fits Bath’s longer planning framework, which links spending decisions to the Comprehensive Plan, the 2024 Resilient Bath Climate Action and Resiliency Plan and a 2023 vulnerability assessment. City planning pages say those documents guide long-term choices on growth, housing, transportation, environment and community life. That policy backdrop helps explain why the budget stresses livability, infrastructure, aging buildings and resilience, even as councilors are being asked to hold the line on taxes.

Bath’s FY 2026 budget rose to $22,277,943, up 6.66%, and that plan carried a 3.01% property-tax increase. The new proposal would keep the tax increase lower even as overall spending climbs faster, a sign that city leaders are trying to absorb more of the cost inside the budget itself before the final vote in June.