Westbrook’s proposed combined municipal and school budget is set at $106.5 million. The $61.7 million the city would need to raise from taxpayers requires a 7.61% projected tax rate increase.

“Most of the increases seen in this budget are attributed to the rising costs of goods, services and labor necessary to keep our existing operations and service delivery at their current level,” Mayor David Morse wrote in his budget message.

The tax needs for the $39 million municipal budget increased by 8.88%. For the $57 million school budget, the tax needs increased by 6.92%. The remaining budget comes from county taxes and tax increment financing accounts.

With the new budget, the tax rate will be $16.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value, a $1.15 increase. 

DECREASED FEDERAL FUNDING

Cumberland County taxes increased by more than 12%, due to the loss of federal revenue for the Cumberland County Jail, Angela Holmes, Westbrook city administrator, said. The increase represents an additional $265,646, for a total of $2.4 million.

“This jaw-dropping increase in our county tax assessment is a direct result of the political gamesmanship playing out across our nation, and local taxpayers (those least able to afford it), are being made to pay for it,” Morse wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security pulled its prisoners out of the jail three months ago, after Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s tactics during the January surge in Maine. The federal government pays the Cumberland County Jail $150 per day for each federal detainee at the facility, which served as a critical source of funding, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners said in November when it voted against a proposal to remove ICE detainees from the jail.

Last week, the commissioners voted to drop ICE from its contract with the U.S. Marshals Service to hold federal detainees at Cumberland County Jail.

The school budget was also impacted by decreased state and federal funding and increasing health benefit costs. The proposed adult education expenditures are about $660,000, and around $57 million is budgeted for preK-12 education.

CHANGES DURING THE BUDGET PROCESS

One of the biggest changes during the budget hearing process did not impact the total budget, but it moved the salaries and benefits of two school resource officer positions to the city budget, Holmes said. Previously, the salaries and benefits were split evenly between the city and school budgets.

When deciding on the move in a council meeting April 15, some councilors said they were concerned about budget transparency, because residents must vote to approve the school budget, but the municipal budget doesn’t require a vote. Ultimately, councilors said although SROs spend the majority of their time in schools, they should be a city expense because they are hired by the city and serve a public safety function for the community.

NEW POSITIONS

Within the public services department, Morse received a request to add two positions, but he only added an operations supervisor position to help maintain the city’s growing infrastructure.

In anticipation of retirements in the fire department, the city temporarily increased its staffing level from 46 to 48 members a few months ago, Holmes said. In the 2026-27 fiscal year budget, the city permanently added a new position for a total of 47, although the fire department did not make a request for additional staff.