St. Mary's County begins FY2016 budget work sessions; staff outline CIP process, debt policy and bond capacity

ST. MARY'S COUNTY, Md. — At a Dec. 8, 2014 fiscal year 2016 budget work session, county finance staff and members of the county’s capital improvements program (CIP) group briefed the Board of County Commissioners on the budget calendar, capital project schedules, and the county’s debt policy and capacity.

County finance staff framed the session as a grounding exercise for the new commission, saying the discussion would cover the budget calendar, debt policy, debt capacity and unexpended capital balances. "When the Board of County Commissioners approves the capital budget, they also approve a subsequent five-year plan," K., a county finance staff member, told commissioners, describing the plan the county uses as a touchstone when reviewing new FY2016 requests.

Why it matters: decisions made in the coming budget work sessions will determine which capital projects move forward and how they are funded — via bonds, grants, impact fees or other dedicated sources. Staff emphasized that the county typically balances project timing and funding to limit borrowing and to present a single, coordinated draft budget in February.

Key calendar and process items

- Departments must submit final county CIP sheets to finance by Jan. 5, 2015; finance will compile those into a balanced draft for the…