The Kennebunk gross municipal budget is down by 1.3% from the current year, but the total budget, including the proposed school budget, is up by 4.7%. The Kennebunk Select Board adopted the budget on May 13.

The gross municipal budget comes in at $28,216,942 for fiscal year 2026, a decrease of $386,034. The total budget comes in at $64,299,761, an increase of $2,878,374 from the current fiscal year.

According to Town Manager Bryan Laverriere, the budget focuses on the continuation of multiple goals set in the previous year in an effort to begin strategic planning for future years.

It also focuses on financial stability and sustainable solutions that best serve the town of Kennebunk and its residents, Laverriere said.

“This budget is a representation of a structurally balanced budget that addresses immediate needs within the community and the organization,” Laverriere said.

Cost drivers for the 2026 budget include a town-wide assessment adjustment, debt obligations, recycling and solid waste contracts, and the Maine economy.

“We’re still in inflationary times,” Finance Director Kayla Tierney said.

Recycling and waste contracts for the town have a large impact on the budget. If Kennebunk voters decide to remove the pay-as-you-throw program at the annual town meeting on June 10, the net budget will increase by $669,527 to fund waste removal for the town.

At a public hearing on May 27, some residents said they would not vote to remove pay-as-you-throw.

Resident Gayle Asmussen Spofford said home businesses like bed-and-breakfasts generate much more trash than an average household, but typically rely on the same waste collection services as other residents.

Spofford, who lives next to a bed-and-breakfast, said the business generates triple the amount of waste per week than she does.

“I like the people that run the business, and we get along very well, but I do not want to be paying for their trash removal,” Spofford said. “This will add up over time.”

If voters decide to keep pay-as-you-throw, the net budget for the town will amount to $19,045,630, an increase of $1,807,572 or 10.49%. The estimated tax rate change as determined by the net budget is 61 cents.

While the municipal budget has already been adopted by the Kennebunk Select Board, residents will have the opportunity to vote on the school budget and the waste removal article on June 10.

“We ask you all to please come out and vote,” Select Board Chair Miriam Whitehouse said.