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Commissioners approve six FY25 budget amendments including body-camera staffing and credit card fees
Summary
The board approved six budget amendments for fiscal year 2025 covering a vacation buyback program, a Makers Fund transaction, a $650,000 increase to credit card fees, salaries for four body-camera analysts, EMS overtime, and a transit fund transfer.
The Allegany County Board of Commissioners approved six budget amendments for fiscal year 2025 during a single motion on the agenda.
Mister Bennett presented the package of amendments, telling commissioners the first item was an increase of $180,448 to salaries and fringe to fund a county vacation buyback program intended to reduce long-term liabilities.
He said a second item — an accounting entry for a Maker’s Funds transaction involving Allegany College of Maryland — would post $833,186 to the county books but have no impact on the overall budget. A third amendment increases the county’s credit-card-fees expense by $650,000 because the county has incurred fees this year while waiting for an accounting-system vendor to implement a billing change.
The fourth amendment moves salaries and fringe into the county budget to retain four body-camera analyst positions previously funded partly by ARPA. Bennett said the positions — three of which were initially ARPA-funded — review body-camera footage from state police, DNR, Frostburg State University, the City of Frostburg, the City of Cumberland and the sheriff’s office; the county must now fund the roles at $407,400 because the earlier ARPA funding expired and the state grant did not materialize.
An amendment increased the EMS overtime budget by $410,000 to cover staffing costs earlier in the year, Bennett said. The final change was a $302,448 transfer into the transit fund to offset reduced federal and state support and help preserve transit operations for the current year.
Commissioners asked whether the county should send a letter seeking state funding for the body-camera mandate; Bennett said the county had attempted to secure the funds and would continue to pursue them. A motion to approve item B was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.
The transcript does not include a roll-call vote or an itemized line showing which departments will absorb each cost beyond Bennett’s descriptions. Commissioners described several items as unfunded state mandates and noted the county will need to absorb ongoing costs if state reimbursement is not provided.
The county did not present an implementation schedule for the additional positions or a multi-year funding plan during the meeting.
