Brunswick draft school budget would raise property taxes $2.44M, 4.42%

An early draft of Brunswick’s school budget, posted Feb. 17, would increase the amount to be raised from property taxes by $2,441,103 and “results in an anticipated 4.42% increase on the property tax rate,” the Brunswick School Department draft states. Local reporting earlier described the change as “roughly a 5%” rise in the town’s school-related tax burden; the draft file contains the specific levy and percent calculations.

The draft links the levy increase to a roughly $870,000 cut in State Aid to Education for the 2021-2022 budget year. The document lists explicit causes: “a loss in reported numbers of economically disadvantaged students, the loss of replacement bus funding, lower than anticipated Pre-K enrollment, and an increase in the local required contribution.” The budget also notes federal Coronavirus relief funds remain available as a revenue source, saying, “The availability of Coronavirus relief funds from the federal government gave the Brunswick School Department an additional funding source this budget year and for two future budget years.”

Line items in the excerpt show the scale of personnel and benefit costs driving the draft. Teacher salaries appear as $15,687,455, $16,517,777 and $16,725,938 across the three-column sequence in the file; health insurance is listed as $5,117,177, $5,945,322 and $6,032,522; retirement contributions show $1,052,114, $1,157,694 and $1,157,328. Substitute pay is listed at $317,627 and $501,320. The document also records benefits such as payroll taxes ($574,504; $680,923; $702,308), dental insurance ($144,512; $195,299; $200,787) and workers comp ($173,090; $258,899; $277,140).

The budget extract contains truncated lines and typographical anomalies in the publicly posted excerpt. For example, “Resource Assistant Salary” appears as $280,431, $313,648 and “$275,3401” in the third column, and multiple rows end with ellipses. The file also includes an administrative cover paragraph of appreciation that reads in part, “Brunswick continues to enjoy a deep-rooted tradition of excellence... We are thankful for your continued support, as well as the opportunity to serve you, especially during these incredibly challenging times.”

The Times Record reported the early draft in mid-February and noted the draft will be discussed by the school board before a formal vote; the draft document itself indicates further administrative requests have been met “through local taxation and Coronavirus relief funding,” though that sentence in the excerpt is truncated. Any changes the board makes before a formal vote could alter the $2.44 million levy increase or the projected 4.42% rate change.

For context, other jurisdictions named Brunswick are taking different paths. Brunswick County, North Carolina’s FY2025-2026 recommended school appropriation is $62,694,250, an 8.90% increase over the prior year under a funding agreement, while Port City Daily reported a separate Brunswick County (N.C.) $349.6 million school bond placed on the November 2026 ballot with projected tax impacts totaling 5.74 cents. Separately, Frederick County (Md.) enacted a 4.7% property tax increase in FY2025 expected to raise about $47 million by the end of FY2026, with roughly $40 million proposed for school construction.

The Brunswick School Department draft posted Feb. 17 will be on the school board agenda for discussion prior to any formal vote; until the board reviews the full spreadsheet and resolves the truncated entries, the $2,441,103 levy increase and the 4.42% rate projection remain the draft figures circulated to the public.