Brunswick has something of an unhealthy relationship with Bowdoin College. We always have and we always will because we have allowed it to be this way. Of course, given recent events on campus and in the paper, Brunswick is not the only group that has an axe to grind with the college. 

It was noted this week that Bowdoin is making a payment to the town to fund a new, “discovery classroom” on the grounds of the new elementary school and the college is boosting its contribution to the town by $150,000 per year. The college also reminded everyone in a press release that this is a “voluntary” contribution. 

Nothing quite like trying to rehabilitate one’s image right after bad news has come to light. 

This is great news, right? The college will now be paying more than $500,000 per year starting in the next fiscal year according to their press release. This means that the money that Bowdoin is voluntarily giving to the town would be equivalent to a property value of about $26,500,000. 

See, I was concerned that Bowdoin was not paying their fair share and as the wonderful supporters of the common man that they are they should boost their “voluntary” gift to the town. However, if their land is assessed at only $26,500,000 then the gift makes sense. 

Wait, this is just coming into the home office. I have it on good authority from some financially disaffected facilities workers at Bowdoin that my numbers are a bit off. If you have read the news lately these workers know a little about not being supported by Bowdoin. The college’s rhetoric of supporting the less fortunate among us stops when it is their own money at stake. 

Looking at the Brunswick Tax Assessors web page the total exempt value of land owned by Bowdoin College is north of $169,513,000. If that land was taxed at the same rate that the little people pay, the college would see a bill of about $3,207,000. That is quite a difference from the half million-dollar contribution they are making. 

Even including the one-time donation to fund the discovery classroom, the total contribution for FY 2020 will be less than a million dollars. Or less than one third of the real bill. 

Imagine a taxpayer walking into the Town Hall, a building that was formerly owned and still occupied by the college and telling the tax assessor that you would be only paying one third of their bill. Not because they could not afford it, but because they did not have to pay it. Then on their way out of the door they just casually toss some loose change on the counter to make it all better. 

This is essentially what the college is doing, and they want to remind all of us that they are the hero in this comic book story. 

When you think about the assets that the college has it is remarkable that the president of the college can, with a straight face, put out a press release that talks about their, “…long standing support for Brunswick.” In addition to the property value, Bowdoin takes in more than $110,000,000 per year in tuition. Let’s also not forget about the endowment that is out there. According to Bowdoin’s own reporting from last year, the endowment was worth more than $1,630,000,000. Yes, those seven zeros means it is a billion dollars. 

While the college has the legal right to not pay the real property tax on their land, they certainly have the means to do so. They would also claim, if they were talking about anyone other than the college, that they have the moral obligation to pay their fair share. In order to be a good community partner, you know. 

What may be a little more shameful than the idea of this paltry boost in contributions is the breathless nature of some comments by members of the School Board and Town Council. Reading some of the comments made me think of that famous award show speech by Sally Field. “You like me. You like me.” 

I understand that the college is not required to pay property taxes because they are an educational institution. I get it. But don’t throw an extra wadded up sawbuck at us and tell us that this is a great example of our long-standing partnership. It just seems like an abusive relationship where we ask you to change and you say you will, but nothing really comes of it. 

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at j_crimmins@hotmail.com.