Espanola council held its first budget meeting Tuesday to look at the first draft of the operating budget.
The draft operating budget proposes an overall total of $19.8 million dollars with a 5.10% increase in taxation revenues amounting to $460,000 over the 2025 budget.
Of that, $83,105 is municipal with the brunt, $376,100 coming from uncontrollable external forces including an 11 percent increase in policing, 10 percent in health costs, and six percent in social services.
Some increases are locked in such as the contracted services for the management of water and sewer plants include a 2.9% increase, which comes into play on January 1st, 2026.
This is just the first draft, so council will be breaking it down department by department to find savings where they can.
