BRUNSWICK — With various degrees of reluctance, Brunswick town councilors on Thursday night proposed no changes to a budget that would raise the local tax rate 5.45 percent in advance of a vote scheduled for May 31 to approve the spending plan.

While some councilors expressed disappointment with the tax increase that would add $258 to the annual property tax bill on a home assessed at $200,000, even the most skeptical characterized an increase this year as an inconvenient truth.

“Let’s face it, when looking at people on fixed incomes, this sucks,” District 1 councilor David Watson said during a budget workshop Thursday. “It’s hard, but we don’t have a choice.”

Watson pointed out that other Maine communities, like Bath, are also facing historically steep tax increases. On Wednesday, Bath city councilors heard a budget proposal that would raise the overall tax rate 5.16 percent while cutting the city’s volunteer fire department and eliminating one of three ambulances.

The budget proposed in Brunswick includes no cuts to services, elimination of one position in the town’s economic development office, and an additional $50,000 to manage the train platform at Brunswick Station when the train arrives this fall.

While also dissatisfied with the increase, District 5 councilor Gerald Favreau said he plans to support the budget as proposed Thursday, noting that “5.45 (percent) is better than the 6.2 (percent)” tax rate increase proposed earlier this month.

Two years ago, the tax rate increased by 3.29 percent and last year the rate increased by 1.5 percent.

The increase proposed this year would raise the tax rate from $23.68 per $1,000 of valuation to $24.97 per $1,000 of valuation.

Early on in the budget process, councilors agreed unanimously to fulfill the request of the school department to increase local education funding by $2.4 million, responsible for most of the tax rate increase.

As proposed, education spending would make up around 61 percent of the total budget, which is in line with the previous two years where education hovered around 60 percent of total municipal spending.

On the municipal side, Town Manager Gary Brown said the town was able to shave an additional $231,156 off of the amount to raise from property taxes through a combination of cuts and new revenue estimates prepared for Thursday’s meeting.

The largest cut suggested is a $150,000 reduction to the town’s paving program, dropping the proposed allocation from $600,000 to $450,000.

Separate from portions of the budget affecting this year’s tax rate, Brown also proposed — in response to a request from District 7 councilor Sarah Brayman — that the town dedicate a fund balance of $148,000 from a 12- year-old bond toward sidewalk construction and repair over the next few years.

Another $100,000 from that same bond approved in 2000 is recommended for use to construct raised crosswalks planned for Maine and Pleasant streets.

The council will reconvene on Thursday to vote on adoption of the budget. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the town council chambers at Brunswick Station, 16 Station Ave.

dfishell@timesrecord.com