AUBURN, Maine — Auburn City Manager Howard Kroll has laid off Fire Chief Frank Roma and four others as he prepares the city’s new budget for the next fiscal year.
On Saturday, Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte confirmed the layoffs, which took place on Friday. Roma, planners for the fire and public services departments, an electrician and a building maintenance technician lost their jobs.
“This measure was necessary in order to meet some very serious financial hurdles facing the city as we move into the next fiscal year,” wrote Kroll in a memo to city staff.
Kroll will present his budget proposal during a special Auburn City Council meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. After learning about the layoffs, LaBonte said, “This will surely be a difficult budget process with more difficult decisions to come.”
Interim Fire Chief Geoff Low declined to comment, referring questions to Kroll.
Kroll has not commented publicly on the layoffs beyond the memo.
“Be assured that I have implemented other measures before taking the drastic steps of implementing the layoffs,” wrote Kroll, saying a hiring freeze and a freeze on expenditures are now in place.
“However, these measures were not sufficient enough to yield the savings necessary as we move toward the next fiscal year,” which begins July 1. “The above layoffs could not be delayed until July 1 as the costs associated with those layoffs had to be incurred in this fiscal year.”