Frederick County supervisors hear public comment on advertised FY2026 budget as staff flags structural gaps

The Frederick County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on the advertised FY2026 budget during its March 26 meeting, hearing staff presentations and more than a dozen public comments — most urging full funding for Frederick County Public Schools and county human services providers.

Board members were presented with the advertised numbers and a timeline for action: a budget workshop on April 2 and a planned vote on a budget resolution April 9. County staff emphasized the county’s growing structural gap and use of one-time capital funds to cover operating needs.

Why it matters: county staff say recurring operating costs are rising faster than recurring revenue, prompting repeated use of the capital fund to bridge annual shortfalls. That raises the risk of future deficits and fewer one-time funds for infrastructure.

County budget staff told the board the advertised property tax rate is 48 cents per $100 of assessed value and the advertised personal property tax rate is $4.23. The packet shows FY2026 general revenue (excluding capital fund transfers) of about $263,855,589 and county operating expenses of $122,808,830. The draft budget includes a transfer to schools of $113,873,537. Staff also listed total school-related expenditures (state, federal and local) of about $249,553,451 in FY2026.

Staff also identified proposed capital-fund transfers in the advertised budget: roughly $3,950,000 for ordinary county capital needs, $4,000,000 for school capital and $7,000,000 for transportation. County staff reported a capital fund balance of about $26,800,000 as of last July and warned multi-year projections would exhaust that fund if ongoing expenses continue to be paid from it.

Supervisor Dunn, in an earlier board presentation, framed the problem numerically: the county is projecting deficits in the mid-to-high single-digit millions this year and said relying on the capital fund to pay continuing operational costs is not sustainable. “You cannot continue to operate a county when you're taking out of a savings account, which is this capital fund, to try to meet ongoing operational expenses,” Supervisor Dunn said during his remarks.

Several public speakers urged full funding for schools. Rebecca Rager, a Gainsborough District resident with children in Frederick County schools, told the board: “Public schools are the cornerstone of any thriving community” and asked supervisors to fund school requests to preserve services and teaching staff. Other speakers representing local nonprofits — Northwest Works, Seniors First, the Northern Virginia 4-H Center and Northwestern Community Services Board — described services that depend on local funding and asked the board to support outside agency requests.

Board next steps: staff will circulate additional expense detail by Friday ahead of the April 2 workshop. The April 2 session will review department expenses, then draft the budget resolution for the April 9 meeting when the board expects to take action. No formal budget vote was taken March 26.

Ending: The board closed the hearing and scheduled the two follow-up sessions; residents and agency representatives said they plan to return during the workshop period and at the April 9 vote to press for their priorities.