Anne Arundel CAO outlines operating budget increases, contingency and community grant plans

Christine Anderson, the county's chief administrative officer, presented the County Executive's operating budget to the Anne Arundel County Council on May 12, 2025, highlighting increases driven mainly by video-lottery terminal (VLT) impact funds, targeted grants and a larger contingency fund.

Anderson said the majority of the increase in the County Executive's operating budget is in the VLT-impact line: "The majority of the increase in the county executive's budget is found in the video lottery impact funds. That's about 550 or so thousand dollars, actually closer to $580,000 of the total increase." She directed council members to page 163 of the budget book for additional VLT detail.

Why it matters: the CAO and County Executive budgets direct locally controlled grant funding and contingency reserves that county departments and outside partners rely on; they also set aside funds for projects that do not fit neatly under a single department.

Most significant items Anderson highlighted include: - Shifts of some grants and positions between offices. Anderson said the economic development corporation grant was previously placed under the County Executive and has been moved to the CAO budget for administrative purposes, and that the Resilience Authority director post was moved out of the CAO per a board request and bill "47-25." - Funding for 41 Community Place (the nonprofit center): Anderson presented two requested staff additions tied to the opening of the facility — an office/event assistant and a director of learning to run programs and manage after-hours access — and said the positions would support programming and building operations as the nonprofit center opens for public events and trainings. - Targeted grant commitments within the CAO's "management and control" bureau: Anderson said the bureau contains a $2,000,000 contribution toward the City of Annapolis' welcome center and a $500,000 line item for the Lothian Boys and Girls Club. She also described a partnership with Central Maryland YMCA for a planned Millersville-area library, noting the county's role would be as a grant partner if the YMCA procures the site. - Resilience Authority support and new programs: Anderson said the resilience authority line increases, with roughly $2,400,000 earmarked for a revolving loan program, a Resilient and Ready Anne Arundel initiative and funds to support a fractional chief financial officer to help that authority track finances. - Office for Multicultural Affairs and community grants: Anderson detailed a $375,000 program fund for the Office for Multicultural Affairs, split among a children resilience fund, cultural engagement and festival community grants, plus a separate $150,000 Family Protection Defense Fund included in CAO programming.

Contingency and operations: Anderson proposed increasing the CAO contingency from $13,000,000 to $14,000,000, explaining that a fourth-quarter transfer earlier in the year fully spent the prior contingency. "So the budget office felt it was prudent to increase that funding just a little bit to protect against future emergencies," she said, noting the contingency has ranged historically between 0.53% and 0.77% of the general fund.

Items flagged for later detail: Anderson referred several questions to other presenters for technical details, most frequently Erin Karpowitz (Community Development Services) for VLT and Laurel Racetrack impact fund questions and to Amy Gowen for details about the economic development corporation items.

Council-level context: Council members asked whether specific community support grants (for example, Boys & Girls Clubs and the Literacy Council) were in the CAO or separate community support grant lines; Anderson and budget staff confirmed many community support awards are administered through the CAO and ACDS and that award notifications would follow council final action on the budget.

What the CAO did not decide today: Anderson took questions and explained budget line shifts and requests but did not seek council action or introduce motions during the presentation; she closed by offering to provide additional documents (stipend detail, VLT project lines) to the council on request.

Ending: Anderson said she did not anticipate asking for supplemental appropriations over the coming year but acknowledged the contingency is intended to cover weather operations and other emergency needs and that departments sometimes return for fourth-quarter transfers after large events.