After listening to homeowner after homeowner decry a townwide reassessment that would significantly increase their property taxes — in some cases more than 50% — the Brunswick Town Council on Monday said it will consider ways to mitigate what one councilor called a “regressive gut punch.”

The reassessment, the town’s first since 2017, estimated single-family home values increased 72%, while mobile homes increased 90% and condominiums increased by 54%. It shifts more of the tax burden on residential property owners, as the residential real estate market has outpaced the commercial market. An estimated 62% of property owners would see a tax increase, while 22% would see no change and 15% would see a decrease under the reassessment.

Dozens of residents facing tax hikes packed council chambers Monday night. Some told the council they can’t afford the increases and complained the town didn’t do enough to publicize the process. The council said at its next meeting on Aug. 21, it will hold a public hearing and consider several options, including delaying tax bills a month, using $1 million of reserve town funds to cover part of the total tax levy and keeping last year’s assessment, which would result in about an across-the-board 7% property tax increase.

Councilor Dan Ankeles called the reassessment a “regressive gut punch”

“What I can’t wrap my head around is how we have somehow managed to hold ourselves hostage to the single-most overheated real estate market in my lifetime,” he said. “The fact that we are pinning our entire tax base to that … it can’t be what we end up doing.”

The reassessment was commissioned because the town’s properties this year were assessed at 58% of market value, according to Brunswick Assessor Taylor Burns. State law requires assessments to fall within 70%-110% of market value.

Resident Brenda Day told the council she was concerned about paying a projected 22% increase in her property taxes.

“My income does not go up as much as my 22% tax increase,” she said.

Former councilor Sarah Brayman said her taxes are estimated to increase 34%. She served on the council during the 2017 reassessment and said the process back then included more public outreach.

“This is not the process that we went through from 2015-2017,” Brayman said. “We made sure the public knew what was happening.”

Resident Chris Teel criticized the council for conducting the reassessment amid a real estate “bubble” and for approving a budget earlier this year that raised spending 9.2%.

“It’s terribly frustrating to put this again on the taxpayer,” Teel said.

If the reassessment process advances, councilors discussed delaying tax payments by a month and using $1 million from the unassigned fund balance to reduce the total tax levy. In 2022, that fund had $20.6 million, representing nearly 25.8% of general fund revenues, higher than the council’s policy targeting that figure at 16.67%.

Councilor Kathy Wilson said her property taxes would increase from $4,400 to $8,399 under the reassessment.

“I was blown away,” she said. “I’m on a limited income. … I don’t know what the hell to do.”

Wilson, 78, was born in Brunswick and runs a pet-grooming business.

“I thought I could retire,” she said. “There is no way I can afford to not work the rest of my life and stay here.”

Property owners who believe their reassessment is wrong can contact the assessor’s office for an “informal review.” An appeal form can be found on the town’s website. Once the town commits taxes, owners have 185 days to file an official appeal.

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