Inflation and rising personnel costs are driving a 12.3% spending increase in Brunswick’s $37.2 million proposed municipal budget, which would result in a 2.3% property tax hike, according to Town Manager John Eldridge.
Eldridge unveiled the budget proposal to the Town Council on Monday. The plan includes $577,014 for eight new staff positions that he said are necessary as the town’s role as a social service center expands; $235,500 for improvements to parks and the Recreation Center; and $142,000 for CPR devices, radios, drug analysis equipment and speed monitoring trailers for the police and fire departments, among other spending measures.
The cost to fund the salaries and benefits of existing municipal employees rose by nearly $1.8 million, accounting for the biggest portion of the budget’s $4.1 million spending hike.
“The biggest pressure we’re facing right now is personnel,” Eldridge said. “The labor market has been very tough on several fronts.”
The eight new positions planned include three Public Works truck drivers/operators, a Public Works garage mechanic, a Public Works administrative assistant, an IT technician, a Parks and Recreation maintenance position and a cultural services coordinator who would assist 60 asylum-seeking families moving to town this summer. The coordinator would also help other groups in need like homeless youths.
“We have greater expectations year over year in terms of service levels,” Eldridge said.
The town’s overall budget plan includes $52.9 million in school spending, an increase of 7%, and $1.9 million in county spending, an increase of 10.4%. The school portion would raise property taxes by 4.8%, while the county portion would raise them by 0.28%. Combined with the 2.31% municipal tax impact, property taxes would rise a combined 7.4% if all three budget plans are approved as is.
That would raise the property tax rate from $21.69 per $1,000 property valuation to $23.29. For a $200,000 house, that means property taxes would increase by about $320.
“It’s better than when we originally started, but I’m sure there will be work to be done,” Eldridge said.
The school budget initially included a 10% tax hike, but the school board cut about $1 million in spending and was awarded an extra $836,933 in state funding after a Department of Education appropriation error was discovered last month. The cuts include six proposed positions — two teachers, two educational technicians, a cultural broker/language facilitator and a multilingual learning director — that were planned to help with the enrollment influx of about 100 students from the asylum-seeking families.
Eldridge on Monday also presented the 2024-2028 capital improvements plan, which calls for the following:
• $345,000 for construction of an asphalt sidewalk from Bath Road to Lori Drive that will complete a “safe pedestrian/bicycle connection” to Brunswick Landing.
• $190,000 for pedestrian paths to schools from the neighborhoods west of Stanwood Street and an upgraded pedestrian crossing on McKeen Street.
• $182,000 for powered Stryker cots for four ambulances to help prevent back injuries to emergency personnel.
• $110,000 to match a federal grant for the restoration of the Mare Brook watershed.
• $100,000 to plan and design public restrooms downtown.
• $100,000 to build a 185-foot sidewalk from the west side of Union Street to the north side of Station Avenue.
• $20,000 to design and permit the replacement of a concrete culvert that crosses Range Road near Pleasant Street.
The Town Council will hold a public hearing on the municipal budget and capital improvement plan April 27.
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