Brunswick base redevelopers face new $12M hurdle
The town of Brunswick surprised state officials Tuesday by ending talks of a deal to shelter local property taxes at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station as the land is conveyed to the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority from federal hands and redeveloped for civilian use.
Officials in charge of the redevelopment said that the breakdown in talks will leave MRRA looking for other sources of money that the agency expected to use over 30 years to fund infrastructure improvements and maintenance, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Town officials told the paper that the most recent drafts of the tax increment financing deal involved around $12 million in tax payments over 30 years that would have been returned to MRRA rather than going to the municipal budget.
Brunswick's town manager told the BDN that the decision to end talks of that deal came in light of municipal budget challenges, particularly with the town's school department, which saw the largest drop in state aid of all Maine towns last year – about $1.2 million – and faced a nearly $2.2 million budget deficit.
George Gervais, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development and MRRA board member, told the BDN that he was also surprised by the council's move that he said "has a negative impact on the redevelopment of the base."
The BDN reported that the Department of Defense turned over most of the base property to the redevelopment authority late last year, making the first local tax payments on the formerly tax-exempt federal property due this October.
The value of the property has not yet been assessed, making unknown the amount of tax payments the town can expect to receive from MRRA, the BDN reported. Town officials said the council vote does not mark the end of a possible TIF deal with redevelopment authorities.
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