An 8.9-percent tax increase and an 18-percent increase in sewer rates are tough to swallow, especially if you are a member of the Auburn City Council.

But giving city manager John Salomone his due, he is not totally responsible for the current budget fix that faces the city.

That responsibility lies, in large part, with most of the five individuals that have to vote on the 2005-06 budget - the mayor and city councilors.

While much of the increase in this year's proposal is linked to the whopping pension bill from the state and rising energy costs, that isn't the whole story.

Take labor costs as just one example.

Much of the city's $42.6 million annual budget, like most governments, is made up of personnel costs, not only direct salaries, but the benefits and fringes that usually compound these costs.

What has been underemphasized from the budget discussion so far is the fact that councilors have passed three employment pacts within the last six months that include the majority of the city's public employees (civil service, fire and police workers).

So it is disingenuous to read and hear city councilors such as David Dempsey and Thomas McNabb talk about a zero tax increase, especially if they are unwilling to make tough cuts that include personnel layoffs.

Zero is a great goal and target, but fiscally too late to accomplish, because of their past votes.

As a public service, so that you can keep score, here are the labor agreement pay rate increases for coming years and votes by members of city council since November:

• Fire: 2, 3, 3, 3 and 2 percent; passed Nov. 23; Councilmen Dempsey, Robert Hunter, William Jacobs and McNabb in favor and mayor Timothy Lattimore abstained.

• Police: 3, 3, 3, 3 and 3 percent; passed Dec. 16; Lattimore, Dempsey, Jacobs and McNabb in favor and Hunter was absent.

• CSEA: 3, 3, 3, 3 and 3.5 percent; passed March 31; Dempsey, Hunter, Jacobs and McNabb in favor and Lattimore against.

So when you hear any member of city council coming close to casting a vote against the 2005-06 city budget, because there is a tax increase, ask if they helped create the need with their contract settlement votes.

Voting for a labor agreement with salary increases is not wrong. What is wrong is not being willing to pay the costs for such bills when they come due - that's fiscally irresponsible.

Cosentino is a former mayor of the city of Auburn. He can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com