BRUNSWICK— Brunswick residents could face a hefty 11.5% tax increase next year, according to preliminary school and municipal budgets.
Officials have been gearing up for a tough budget season, with needed public safety and infrastructure improvements driving the municipal budget, and the new Kate Furbish Elementary School, public pre-Kindergarten and increased English language services for asylum seekers contributing to increased education costs.
If the proposed $28.6 million town and $45.9 million school budgets (about $74 million together) are approved as written — which is unlikely, according to town officials — residents would see an 11.6% tax increase, with 2.23% coming from the town, 9.34% from the schools and 0.2% from the county tax.
Such an increase would bump the existing tax rate of $19.72 per $1,000 of valuation to $22.04 per $1,000. That would mean a $4,4008 tax bill for a home valued at $200,000.
Last year’s $67.8 million town and school budget raised taxes an estimated 4.97%, which town councilor Kathy Wilson was concerned would leave residents with “sticker shock.”
Councilors have known for some time that this budget season would be difficult. Town Manager John Eldridge’s preliminary budget, presented last week, already trimmed department requests by over $550,000.
Maintaining existing staffing levels will increase the budget by nearly $750,000, Eldridge told the council last week, and about $278,000 will go toward “new employee costs.” The new employees include Cultural Broker Nsiona Nguizani, who was hired in August to help facilitate the cultural transition for nearly 100 asylum seekers who arrived in Brunswick this summer, as well as an administrative assistant in the planning department, two seasonal winter laborers in the public works department and four firefighters who would be hired halfway through the year to keep the impact on this year’s budget low.
The potential $165,000 increase comes just one year after the council approved an additional four firefighters and an inspector for the department amid short staffing and increased calls.
Brunswick has 36 career firefighters, fewer than many other departments in towns of similar size. Until last year, the fire department has been operating with the same staffing level for about 20 years, chief Ken Brillant said, while the number of calls steadily increased. Last year, the department responded to 4,436 calls, about 200 fewer than in 2018.
Some councilors expressed reservations about adding another four firefighters so soon.
“Not everything can happen within one or two years,” Council Chairman John Perreault said.
The paving budget is also slated for a boost this year, bringing the current $1.1 million budget up by $200,000 “to continue to move the town towards adequate funding, which is essential to minimize future, costlier road repairs,” Eldridge said in a letter to the council, adding that a recent study suggested they should be spending closer to $1.8 or even $2 million on the roads.
On the flip side, state revenue sharing is also expected to increase, hopefully providing some financial relief.
State revenue sharing is sales tax money the state distributes to communities as property tax relief. Last year, Gov. Janet Mills increased revenue sharing from 2% to 3%, giving Brunswick an additional $350,000, $100,000 went toward the paving budget and $35,000 was put into a contingency fund. This year, Brunswick is expecting Mills to hike revenue sharing to 3.75%, giving the town another $450,000 to offset property taxes.
The school budget
Unlike the municipal budget, which received substantial cuts before its first presentation, the proposed school department budget reflects what the administration feels is needed to support students and the schools.
“Administration recognizes that not all of the needs can be met and that the school board will decide what priorities will be included in the final proposed budget presented to the town council in April,” according to budget documents.
The new Kate Furbish school will be the biggest chunk of the budget, with just over $1.4 million of the $20.3 million building due, with another $525,000 set aside for operations costs, two custodians and additional hours for staff as they move to the new location.
Kate Furbish School will hold 660 students, including a new pre-Kindergarten program. There are already 30 students currently enrolled in the pre-K pilot, which launched in September.
When Kate Furbish opens next year the department hopes to quadruple that number to 120 students. The school will need to hire three additional teachers, three educational technicians, special education teacher and another bus driver, as well as purchase booster seats for the buses and supplies, books and other materials. The initial pre-K costs is expected to be just over $687,000, but it is expected to be reimbursed.
The district is also allocating another $343,000 for increased resources for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), including funding a teacher and two resource assistants added earlier in the year, increasing the hours for two existing resource assistants, hiring another teacher and buying more supplies.
The money will help educate 49 students in the ESOL program (an increase from 28 in 2018), nearly half of whom are asylum seekers who arrived from Africa this summer with their families. Many of the students speak little to no English, and “therefore have a higher need for direct services,” according to the budget request.
Both budgets are currently in their earliest stages and will likely change significantly before the targeted budget adoption May 14.
The school board is expected to present to the town council next month.
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