DLS: Eastern Shore counties to receive about $900 million in state aid under governor's budget; counties face proposed cost shifts

Delegates and senators in the Eastern Shore delegation heard a Feb. 7 briefing from the Maryland Department of Legislative Services (DLS) that placed combined state aid to the region at about $900 million for fiscal 2026, and flagged proposed budget changes that would shift some costs to county governments.

DLS analyst Hiram said, “the 9 counties on the Eastern Shore, when you add up their funding, it will total around $900,000,000 in FY '26.” The presentation described how most state aid is targeted by formula and distributed based on local wealth, population and program-specific measures.

The briefing summarized property-tax and income-tax bases across the nine Eastern Shore counties and detailed program-by-program state support. DLS analyst Valerie Monroe said the county revenue outlook “provides a snapshot of the fiscal health of county governments in Maryland” and noted that the report uses adopted budgets and projections for FY24–FY25. DLS staff highlighted that per-capita assessable bases and local tax rates vary widely across the region: Queen Anne’s, Talbot and Worcester counties have the highest per-capita property bases, while Somerset and several others have much lower per-capita net taxable income and therefore qualify for disparity grants.

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