The Falmouth Town Council has approved a combined town and school budget of $71.8 million for fiscal year 2025, which begins on July 1. That includes $20.25 million in operating expenses for the town, $49.9 million for education and $2.2 million in taxes levied by Cumberland County.

The town’s operating budget is increasing $1.29 million from fiscal year 2024, or a 6.8% increase.

If voters approve the school budget June 11, the combined budget will increase the property tax rate 5.8%, or 74 cents, to $13.38 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to Finance Director Peter McHugh. The tax bill for the owner of a home in Falmouth assessed at $800,000, for example, would see a $592 increase in their tax bill.

The amount the town needs to raise through property taxes was offset by an increase in the town’s non-property tax revenue for the coming fiscal year. The town is expecting $9.19 million from non-property tax revenue, an increase of $888,557, largely thanks to a bump in interest income and auto excise tax.

Within the town’s operating budget, the Public Safety Department takes the biggest piece of the pie, followed by the Public Works Department. Public Safety, which includes the Police Department and Fire and EMS, will receive $9.35 million this coming year through the General Fund.

The biggest budget driver of the town’s $1.29 million increase in the operating budget is due to a 4.75% cost of living increase for all non-union and some union municipal employees, which tallies at $246,624. The town is also budgeting an additional $255,524 in market wage adjustments, according to McHugh.