Penobscot County’s budget committee approved a budget that would increase county taxes by roughly 23%.
No cuts were made to the county’s 2027 budget during the four-and-a-half-hour meeting Wednesday.
Nearly every county department’s expenses rose compared with the 2026 budget. The county’s 2026 budget also increased taxes by roughly 15%.
The budget still needs to be approved by Penobscot County’s commissioners later this month.
Committee members, who are elected officials serving across the county, spoke at length against the tax increase and reviewed the budget by department, but they ultimately accepted the county’s budget as presented. Multiple members voted against specific departmental budgets, but none were changed.
The county commissioner and administration budget was the only to be voted down. But it was passed without changes on a second vote.
Committee members were faced with deciding if the county should be fully funded, which would create a hike in taxes, or if there was room for cuts in the budget.
The final vote to accept the budget was contentious. Brewer City Councilor Jenn Morin, Hampden Councilor Eric Jarvi, Clifton Select Board Member John Williams, Bradley Town Councilor Duane Lugdon and state Rep. James Dill, D-Old Town, voted against the budget.
Committee members said they could not take the tax hike back to their residents.
“If we don’t approve this, we are just kicking the can down the road. We’re going to be in the same spot,” Morin said, adding that the budget process should start in the summer and include more feedback over more time than just one meeting.
If the budget is approved by Commissioners David Marshall, Andre Cushing and Dan Tremble, county taxes are set to increase by 23.36%. When divided across county residents, it will raise taxes for a property valued at $250,000 by more than $100 next year.
As passed, the county budget fully funds the Penobscot County Jail, which has drained more than $11 million from county reserve accounts. The county has undertaxed residents since 2021, requiring officials to pull from reserves to fund the jail.
Morin said this year’s budget information was the most complete in her three years on the committee, but said the county commissioners have had years to reconcile the budget and properly fund the county.
At times, committee members clashed with county officials over the cost of county services and how Tinkham described the increase, which he likened to the cost of a McDonald’s meal, a six pack of beer, or buying coffee and donuts every month.
“There are folks out there that can’t afford to buy those things today,” Lugdon said. “How are we going to go back and tell them that we’re anticipating now an additional 23% rise in their county tax, which I guarantee is not a huge portion of the town’s budget, but if you stack up the county’s increase, aside the schools’ increase, and the revenues that the towns need to get through the fiscal years, they all add up.”
Multiple members voted against more than one department’s budget. Williams and Jarvi objected to the majority of departments, saying that savings could be found.
Marshall and Cushing recommended the budget to the committee last month. Tremble voted against, saying that it would raise costs at a time when county residents are already paying higher prices for food and fuel.
Multiple committee members agreed with Tremble.
In response, Tinkham said members need to decide what the value of county services are, and the committee could “fund it, defer it or reduce it.”
County commissioners will hold a public hearing and vote to approve the budget on Nov. 18.