I’m sure other residents of Brewer were happy, as was I, when the Brewer City Council announced they had worked out a budget and were keeping the mil rate of taxation the same. During a visit to the assessor’s office, I learned how they did it.

The assessed values of about half of the properties in Brewer have been significantly increased. In my case, the assessed value of our house went from $62,200 to $69,700. Therefore, 7.5 thousand times the mil rate will be our tax increase this year. Said another way, half of the residents of Brewer will bear the entire burden of getting the city out of its budget problems. When does all this commercial development start helping us with our taxes?

George H. Hayes

Brewer