Brunswick Town Council Capital Improvement Program Workshop - April 23, 2026

The Brunswick Town Council held a Capital Improvement Program workshop on April 23, 2026, chaired by Councilor Steve Weems. The meeting featured presentations from Curtis Memorial Library, the Information Technology department, and the Brunswick Police Department, followed by the Town Manager's budget presentation. Discussions focused on budget pressures, rising costs, and the significant social and operational impacts of the growing unhoused population. The council debated tax rate targets, with the proposed budget suggesting a 5.52% increase, while some councilors advocated for a 4% target. The meeting concluded with a public comment period and plans for a public hearing on April 27.

Curtis Memorial Library Presentation

• Executive Director Liz Dusett reported that in fiscal year 2024-2025, the library had over 262,000 visits (900–1,200 daily), circulated over 486,000 items, and the bookmobile made 437 stops with over 7,200 visitors. Volunteers contributed 7,300 hours, valued at approximately $236,000.
• The library's budget request from the town is $2,061,000, an increase of $146,000 (7.6%), driven by a 10% health insurance assumption, a 27-year-old elevator, and a proposed new full-time custodian position.
• Dusett emphasized the library has become a de facto part of the winter homeless shelter system, especially on weekends when other services are closed. A uniformed police officer was present on Saturdays and Sundays at a cost of $800 per weekend, funded separately. She stated the library lacks the staffing, expertise, security, and mission to serve that role, and called for broader community solutions.
• Councilor Ellis asked about collaboration with the Gathering Place; Dusett noted the stakeholder group meets every other Thursday and has been very helpful. Councilor Hicks clarified that the library has been paying for the police presence from non-town funds.

Information Technology Presentation

• IT Director Jeff Ney reported supporting 30 platforms, 125 workstations, 65+ laptops, and 26 servers. The help desk resolved 1,383 of 1,390 tickets in 2025, with an 85% resolution SLA and 65% first-contact resolution. Public safety accounted for 25% of support requests.
• Completed projects include police department email migration to the cloud, server infrastructure refresh, MDT refreshes, body camera deployment, and security camera upgrades. Upcoming projects include SAN refresh (costs ballooned from $60,000 to $160,000 due to AI demand), TV3 council tech refresh, firewall upgrade with high availability, and phone system cloud migration.
• A mandatory ERP SaaS migration from on-premise to cloud by the vendor is projected to double annual costs, adding $85,000 in recurring fees plus $8,500 in project fees. Ney presented a budget request of $1,122,876, with major drivers being a new systems administrator, 87% increase in internet services, and rising licensing costs.
• Ney outlined an AI acceptable use policy emphasizing prohibited uses (e.g., inputting protected data, generating misleading communications, or deploying surveillance). The town is controlling adoption through approved tools and requiring SOC2 Type 2 reports for new AI tools.
• Councilor Teany discussed copilot licensing costs (estimated $20/month/user) and requested a disclosure requirement for AI-generated content. Councilor Ellis asked about regionalization and alternative solutions; Ney noted information sharing among municipalities but no formal regionalization.

Brunswick Police Department Presentation

• Chief Stewart reported staffing challenges: 4 vacancies, 1 extended military leave, 1 on workmen's comp, and 4 cadets in the academy — 10 bodies unavailable for road duty out of 39 sworn officers. Retirements totaled 89 years of experience lost.
• Mental health calls skyrocketed from 394 to 823 in 2025, with an average of 35 minutes per call. A mental health liaison, Hadley Austin, funded through opioid settlement funds, has been successful in co-responding and follow-up.
• The warming center has made Brunswick a destination for unhoused individuals from across the country. In 2025, there were 508 calls for service in the downtown area, with 312 (880 hours) concentrated on the Tenny Way campus, predominantly during the warming center's open season (75% of calls). This has drained resources, making the department reactive rather than proactive.
• Cleanup costs: $9,375 for River Road and $3,500 for Cedar Street, plus $600 and ongoing $400/month for biohazards. The stockade fence at Cedar Street is being replaced with chain-link at $6,750 due to safety issues.
• Chief Stewart noted that community events are done off-duty, and the department is unable to provide adequate patrol services to other parts of town. He expressed concern that the situation is worsening and called for a collective community strategy. He recommended considering a higher-barrier shelter to improve safety and accountability.
• Councilor Perault asked about strategies; Chief Stewart said a SWOT analysis was done and Tedford adjusted hours (opens at 5 p.m. instead of 8 p.m.), but the problem persists. Councilor Hicks inquired about protocols for disorderly conduct; Chief Stewart explained case-by-case responses, balancing arrests with other resources.

Town Manager Budget Presentation

• Town Manager Julia Henze presented the proposed budget with a 5.52% tax rate increase. She showed comparisons with 31 coastal Maine towns: Brunswick has relatively low property value per capita (state valuation per capita at the low end) and is below many peers in tax assessment per capita.
• A breakdown of property values: for single-family homes, the median tax bill increase at 5.52% would be approximately $312 for the median property. Councilor Ellis expressed concern about compounding increases over multiple years, noting that a 5.5% policy over five years would add $1,741 compared to $1,000 at 3.5%.
• The manager's proposed tier three adjustments (totaling $191,000) include starting the CEO position in January (delayed), reducing contingency, adding $20,000 in TIF revenues, and using $75,000 from general fund balance for one-time planning consulting. Also, fuel bids came in $19,000 under budget. This would bring the municipal-only tax impact to 1.72%.
• Henze corrected a mistake: state revenue sharing shortfall is about $250,000, not $700,000, so a balance remains for use in the next fiscal year. She declined to go to tier four (eliminating all new positions) to avoid service cuts.
• Councilor Ellis asked about the school department's high unassigned fund balance ($8 million in 2025, $6.5 million in 2024), questioning if assumptions are too conservative. Henze explained that municipal budgeting is conservative to avoid deficits, and surpluses are often due to vacancies. She offered to prepare a graph showing actual spending vs. budget.
• Councilor Andersson noted that last year's revaluation caused a big shift, and constituents are feeling the cumulative burden of rising costs beyond taxes (fuel, electricity, food). Councilor Teany argued that for the median taxpayer, the difference between tiers is only a few dollars per month, and municipal services provide excellent value.

Council Discussion

• Chair Weems stated the 4% target is reasonable and achievable without additional personnel cuts, citing opportunities on both revenue and expenditure sides. He acknowledged the difficulty but expressed confidence in town and school professionals.
• Councilor Ellis reiterated concern about normalizing 5.5% increases, which could compound unsustainably. He called for tighter assumptions and more scrutiny of school and town budget gaps.
• Councilor Perault supported a 4% target, noting the municipal side has a tougher path but remaining optimistic. She emphasized the broader economic pressures on families.
• The council discussed using general fund balance cautiously, with the manager preferring not to draw it down further.

Public Comment

• Jennifer Navarre raised concerns about the MOCA finding (7 major policy failures) and urged more transparency. She argued that Brunswick is a service hub attracting people from out of state, which should be acknowledged in budgeting and regional cost-sharing. She requested an emergency public meeting. She also asked about the status of the Permanent Connector in the CIP.

Key Outcomes

• No votes were taken; the workshop served as a discussion forum.
• The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Monday, April 27, 2026.
• The unhoused stakeholder group will continue meetings and strategize for the next winter, with the assistant town manager involved.
• The council requested follow-up reports from the police chief and the town manager on fund balance projections and actual spending comparisons.