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College of Southern Maryland seeks 6% maintenance-of-effort increase; warns of lost state support
Summary
College of Southern Maryland asked St. Mary—s County for a 6% maintenance-of-effort increase ($343,313) plus $10,000 to raise the region—s nonprofit-institute support to $50,000; CSM officials said the college faces a multi-year loss of state funding if a statewide maintenance calculation remains removed.
Representatives from the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) urged St. Mary—s County commissioners to approve a maintenance-of-effort increase of 6% for FY26, which the college said equated to $343,313 for the county. CSM also requested an additional $10,000 (raising the county—s contribution to the Nonprofit Institute from $40,000 to $50,000), bringing the total request discussed to $353,313.
CSM President Dr. Wilson and finance staff explained the 6% increase is applied to the college—s total base budget and then allocated among the three sponsoring counties by student headcount and facility square footage. The college said St. Mary—s— portion equals roughly 30.16% of the distribution and noted the extra $10,000 would expand nonprofit training offered by the regional institute.
Officials warned the state had removed a maintenance-of-effort calculation in its FY26 proposal; CSM said that change would reduce state funding to the college substantially (CSM cited an $851,000 loss for FY26 and $1.6 million over two years if not reinstated). Commissioners pressed about the mechanics of the distribution and whether the request tied directly to enrollment changes; CSM staff said the distribution uses prior funding baselines and county student headcount percentages rather than being recalculated each year on enrollment.
Commissioners said they appreciated CSM—s long-term use of fund balances and asked questions about fund-balance drawdown and ongoing use for one-time items versus recurring expenses. CSM said it is using some fund balance for one-time investments and hopes to avoid tuition increases.
Ending
Commissioners did not approve the request during the session; it remains under consideration as staff finalize the FY26 public-hearing draft and monitor pending state decisions on college funding.
