Brunswick voters weigh $61 million school budget, tax hike on June ballot
Brunswick’s June ballot could raise school-related taxes 2.7% if voters approve a budget topping $61 million. Absentee voting is already open.
Brunswick households are staring at a June ballot that could push school-related property taxes up 2.7% if voters approve a budget of more than $61 million. The spending plan reached the ballot after the school board trimmed about $2 million from its original proposal, cutting eight positions, and using more than $100,000 in state aid to soften the hit to taxpayers.
A yes vote on the school budget referendum would authorize that spending plan and the tax-rate increase attached to it. The cuts that got the budget to this point included two administrative assistants, one custodian, three English-for-speakers-of-other-languages positions, one high school teacher and one technology support role. A no vote would reject the current plan and block the increase from taking effect, leaving Brunswick school spending unresolved for another round.
The same ballot also asks voters to weigh the Region 10 Technical High School referendum, which sets the regional budget at not more than $4,312,957 and Brunswick’s assessment at not more than $462,498. A yes vote would approve the regional budget and state Brunswick’s share. The question does not raise or appropriate funds directly, but it does lock in the town’s obligation to the Midcoast career-and-technical school system. A no vote would reject that regional budget approval.
Voting is already underway. In-person absentee voting for the June 9 primary began Monday, May 11, and the election itself will be held Tuesday, June 9, at the Brunswick Recreation Center, 22 Neptune Drive. Ballots for the state primary are part of the same June vote, and voters using absentee ballots must make sure their ballot is received by 8 p.m. Eastern time on Election Day.
The school vote arrives after the Brunswick Town Council approved the broader town budget Monday, folding municipal, school and county obligations into one package. In 2026, councilors approved a roughly 5.2% overall tax hike, with municipal spending accounting for about 1.9% of the tax-rate increase and the school budget contributing 2.7%. Education remains Brunswick’s largest expense, taking up more than half of the total budget, which is why even small changes in the school plan ripple quickly into household tax bills.
This year’s referendum also fits a familiar pattern in Brunswick. Voters approved a $57.7 million school budget in 2025 and voted to continue the school budget referendum process for another three years. In 2024, they approved a $54.6 million school budget and backed the Region 10 funding plan during the June primaries. The more than $61 million proposal now before voters is larger than either of those recent school budgets, making this June one of the most consequential local budget votes Brunswick has faced in years.
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