The Bath City Council adopted the $22 million proposed budget earlier this month.

After discussing the details of the fiscal year 2026 budget resolutions, the Bath City Council unanimously passed them on June 4. The total budget for the next budgetary cycle is $22 million, an increase of about $1.4 million, or about 6.6%, from the current budget. Around $519,500 of that increase is investments from reserves to fund facility improvements.

Bath city councilors unanimously passed all budget resolutions, with a total expenditure of $14.4 million in the city’s operating budget and $2.3 million in the city’s capital improvement budget. The increase in the sewer budget is $511,837, at $3.5 million over last year’s budget of $3 million.

Taxes on the city side will increase by 3%, so a home valued at $300,000 would see a tax increase of $60.

“I wanted to comment that I feel more than we have in the past that we have to look at everything through the lens of what other administrations are doing to Maine, and right now, I am seeing attacks on Maine being leveled by a vindictive federal administration,” said Councilor Louis “Roo” Dunn.

He said if the cost of looking out for people in Maine is abandoned in the current presidential administration, that cost will continue to trickle down to the state and then from the state into the budgets of towns like Woolwich and cities like Bath. Dunn said he had some comments from Bath residents that the City Council did not do enough and should have done more.

Dunn’s final remark was that when the City Council makes a decision, after going through the budget in detail, the city should consider smaller changes and reserve its funds for other future projects.

Bath Town Manager Marc Meyers wrote in a letter to City Council members that the fiscal year 2026 budget effectively addresses the city’s needs, aligning with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Climate Action Plan while managing property tax dollars responsibly.