St. Mary’s County commissioners approve directions to close $1.8 million FY2021 budget gap

St. Mary’s County commissioners directed staff to implement a package of reductions and timing changes to close an approximately $1.8 million gap in the FY2021 general fund budget and instructed staff to return the recommended budget for formal approval on May 19.

The action follows a staff proposal that combined voluntary reductions from county departments, elected officials and the Board of Education. The package cited priority areas retained as education, public safety and county infrastructure while trimming other line items, returning some increases, and deferring selected capital timing.

Among the changes cited in the presentation were a $400,000 reduction from the Board of Education, the return of a $600,000 increase to the sheriff’s office that the sheriff requested be self-funded within his allocation, small reductions in finance and information-technology requests, and the decision not to fund a newly requested janitorial position (approximately $55,039). The county included a recurring half-year nurse position for the health department at $52,230 for commissioner consideration and noted a $27,241 placeholder for contractual commissioner staff compensation. The State’s Attorney’s Office returned $60,000 to help balance the current year’s budget.

Dr. Smith, the Board of Education official on the call, told commissioners the district will absorb a $400,000 reduction and will return to the board next Wednesday with a detailed accounting of budget adjustments. “We will be able to honor the negotiated agreement as presented with, all staff receiving a step July 1 and a 1%, COLA,” Dr. Smith said. He added the school system currently has about 9,000 machines in buildings and is not yet 1-to-1; “The total investment that we proposed was $8,000,000, and that…gets us 10,000 machines and related infrastructure,” he said, adding the district expects about $2.3 million from the state’s education stabilization fund and still “we're still gonna need about $5,000,000 worth of computers to get to 1 to 1.”

Health department requests for partial recurring funding of two nurses and an administrative position for the emerging infectious-disease unit were described as currently covered by CARES grant dollars; staff presented a modified request for partial support and noted CARES funding would continue to play a role in pandemic-related staffing this fiscal year.

At the close of the work session the commission recorded unanimous agreement with staff direction on three items: (1) proceed with the proposed $1.8 million operating reductions and timing changes to balance the FY2021 operating budget; (2) approve the CIP timing changes described by staff; and (3) direct staff to bring the FY2021 recommended budget to the commission for approval on May 19. Commissioners voiced appreciation for department cooperation in identifying savings.

Next steps: staff will finalize the line-item changes and provide the detailed FY2021 recommended budget on May 19 for a formal vote.