Commissioners shift salary savings to reserves and approve $2.6M reallocation for 2024–25 snow expenses

On May 13 St. Mary’s County commissioners approved two linked budget actions: a transfer of $507,866 in salary savings into the commissioner’s emergency reserve and a second motion to draw $2,614,528 from that reserve to cover snow-removal expenses in the highway division.

County finance staff told the board the third-quarter salary sweep (through April 14) yielded $507,866 to be added to the commissioner's emergency reserve, with other salary shortages covered across departments. Separately, staff reported $2,614,528 of unbudgeted snow-removal costs (excluding salaries), with total snow-related salaries and wages for the season at approximately $3.8 million. Commissioners and staff discussed prior budgeting choices: commissioners noted earlier board decisions to reduce or remove dedicated snow-removal budget lines in prior years and debated whether reserving funds annually would be a better practice.

Department of Public Works and Transportation staff described the winter’s heavy and repeated storms—multiple plowable events and extended deployments across January–February—that produced the elevated costs. Commissioners approved both amendments by voice vote and authorized the commission president to execute related documents; one vote recorded as an abstention (Commissioner Astra noted separately that she was present remotely and later voted aye, per the transcript excerpt).

The budget actions reduce the commissioner’s emergency reserve balance: after the transfers staff reported the reserve would be approximately $14,124 inclusive of the two items. Commissioners indicated the county should monitor snow-related risks and consider budgeting approaches for future seasons.