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Unidentified speaker criticizes budgetary transfers after voting to approve budget
Summary
An unidentified meeting participant said they voted yes for the county budget but criticized frequent transfers between funding accounts, calling the practice a "shell game" and saying "we rob Peter to pay Paul." The transcript does not include a formal vote tally or detailed transfer amounts.
An unidentified speaker, a meeting participant, said they voted yes for the St. Mary's County budget but criticized the way the county moved money between accounts, calling the practice "a shell game" and saying, "we rob Peter to pay Paul."
The speaker said, "I did vote yes for this budget," and added that although passing the budget was difficult, repeatedly shifting funds among different "pots of money" is not a sound budgeting practice. The transcript records the speaker saying, "I think we do this too often ... we play too much of a shell game, in my opinion, with funds from different pots of money."
The comment was presented as a personal view during the meeting record; the transcript does not include a formal roll-call tally or the motion language for the budget adoption. The speaker also said they were glad the budget was behind them but urged a different approach to future budgeting.
No specific dollar amounts, fund names, or proposed corrections were specified in the transcript. The record does not note any formal directive to staff, follow-up study, or amendment related to the speaker's concern.
