Select Board Shoots Down Brewster Chamber Funding Increase; Money Needed For Rent On New Offices

BREWSTER – On Monday, representatives of the Brewster Chamber of Commerce sat before the select board requesting a $15,000 increase in town funding to help cover the projected rent of new office space. The select board unanimously denied the request. 

Last fall, the chamber received notice that they had been asked to leave town hall after town officials eyed the office space for staff. The space, which they have held for about 30 years, acted as an office and public-facing information center. The chamber was not charged a monthly rent. 

The chamber is looking for a new space, but it will require rent payments. On average, it will cost about $1,200 per month, not including utilities, according to chamber officials. The town has asked the agency to leave the town hall office by April.

 In 1999, former town manager Charlie Sumner arranged the chamber funding through the meals and room tax, offering, at the time, around 2.7 percent of the income garnered from local receipts. As the total meals and room tax increased, the funding stayed the same until 2014. The funding increased in 2018 and then once more in 2023. In 2023, the select board approved an increase of $8,000, bringing town funding to $35,000. 

 Kyle Hinkle, chamber executive director, and Marjorie McGinnis, board member and co-owner and operator of Allard Farm, represented the chamber. McGinnis said that as of Monday, the chamber receives 1.8 percent of the total rooms and meals tax. 

 McGinnis listed the many benefits the town receives from the chamber, including resources for visitors and residents, the Brewster in Bloom parade, scholarships for local students, Brewster for the Holidays events and holiday donations for local families. 

 “I think most important are our businesses,” she said. “[They] provide rooms tax and meals tax revenues which offset the real estate tax levy.” 

 Local receipts for rooms and meals tax in 2025 totaled at $1.8 million. McGinnis said the chamber was requesting a $15,000 increase from those funds based on that number. 

 Without the increase in funding, which would’ve brought their total town funding to $50,000, McGinnis said the payments for rent and utilities would have to be taken out of the marketing budget, which funds “The Best of Brewster” annual magazine and print and radio advertising. 

 Of a total operating budget of $120,000, around $33,000 is allocated for marketing, said Hinkle. 

 Hinkle also noted that the Orleans chamber receives a total of $50,000 in town funding and an additional $13,000 in time from the department of public works, police and fire departments. The town’s rooms tax revenue is less than half of Brewsters, she said. The Harwich chamber receives $50,000 in town funding. 

 On Monday, the select board also received notice of the proposed 2027 operating budget, which will likely include an override (see separate story). Many select board members referenced the unfortunate timing of the request. 

 “The timing of your need is very difficult at this time,” said Select Board Chair Mary Chaffee. “We so appreciate everything you do to support Brewster businesses that are absolutely wonderful and we want them to thrive and we want people to know about all the good opportunities here. I have some discomfort in saying yes to funding a non-town government entity’s request for more funding when we’ve told all of our department heads that they cannot have an increase this year.” 

 Caroline McCarley shared a similar view.

 Jake Agnew, a member of the chamber, shared comments in favor of a funding increase before the vote. 

 “I’ve lived in this community long enough to be able to witness an exodus of the working class,” he said. “It’s hard for local workers to be able to afford to live here anymore. A vibrant, local economy yields a vibrant, local government. A $50,000 ask, to me, if it’s being pumped back into the economy, it allows for further progression of local business and local productivity. The workers deserve it.”  

The board voted 4-0-1 to deny the request. Ned Chatelain abstained from the vote because he is a chamber member.