Commissioners narrow FY22 budget options; delay animal shelter staffing to FY23, direct staff to refine school and tax options

St. Mary's County commissioners on May 11 advanced a set of adjustments to the fiscal 2022 recommended budget after a wide-ranging discussion of public comments, appeals from departments and the Board of Education, and options for recurring and nonrecurring funding.

Chief Financial Officer Jeanette Cudmore summarized the April public hearings and said 69 people spoke to the FY22 recommended budget; an additional 15 written comments were received. She told commissioners the recommended budget currently included $293 million in revenues and expenditures, a figure that incorporates an American Rescue Fund allocation of $22 million described at the meeting as nonrecurring.

Commissioners reviewed revenue updates Cudmore proposed: an increase to property-tax revenue of $244,138 based on reassessments, an added $400,000 to recordation-tax receipts, a $100,000 reduction to the accommodation-tax estimate, and a projected $200,000 increase to 911 revenue. Cudmore also told the panel library utility reimbursements were expected to rise by about $25,200, and that a discretionary Land Use and Growth Management grant would not be received and therefore would be removed from revenues.

On appeals and departmental requests, commissioners approved a number of modest changes and asked staff to return with final numbers next week. Items recorded in the meeting record as approved or supported by consensus included:

- An hourly fiscal specialist in the Department of Aging and Human Services (20 hours/week) for $19,565. - An increase in utilities for certain public works sites; the department will offset roughly $25,000 in revenue where available. - A $50,000 replacement pickup for Recreation & Parks, with commissioners agreeing to fund vehicle replacements from fund balance for consistency with other replacements. - A $25,000 recurring increase for museum repairs (Recreation & Parks) tied to island/museum sites. - Several recurring software and training items for Emergency Services totaling roughly $5,440, and a $45,000 vehicle for a technical-services coordinator (staff noted American Rescue Plan funds as an option to pay that cost). - Two corrections-position reclassifications in the Sheriff’s Office (combined $9,657) and a separate evidence-analyst position request approved for the State's Attorney's Office ($79,254). - The State's Attorney also received funding for a 24/7 bond-hearing attorney service at a reduced ask of $35,562 rather than the larger initial request; State's Attorney staff explained the long-standing practice funds four hours per day of attorney coverage on bond hearings and provided hourly-cost detail. - The Board of Elections' request to add an early-voting center, whose fiscal note totals approximately $190,300; commissioners said they had no discretion to override the Board of Elections' determination and treated the cost as required.

Several larger items remained under negotiation. The Board of Education requested a variety of items: a fully funded negotiated agreement the board described at about $3.2 million; an alternative option of a 1% cost-of-living increase (about $1.2 million); a transportation contract / bus-driver allocation of roughly $519,778; and roughly $2 million in nonrecurring requests. Superintendent Dr. Smith and school finance staff said a delta of about $2.2–$2.6 million over the recommended budget would allow the school system to accept the negotiated terms and the transportation package; commissioners asked staff to produce a final reconciliation next week.

Commissioner discussion centered on tradeoffs between recurring and one-time funding. Commissioner Morgan (speaker identified in the record) proposed increasing the revenue-growth assumption to 4% and reducing the county income-tax rate from 3.17 to 3.10 as a package that, in his view, would produce additional recurring revenue while returning some money to taxpayers. Commissioners debated using American Rescue funds and fund balance as one-time sources to cover nonprofits and capital or to seed LOSAP (the volunteer retirement program). Several commissioners signaled support for using fund balance to purchase replacement vehicles outright rather than financing them, and for directing up to $3 million of fund-balance resources into LOSAP as a forward-funding option to improve the plan’s funded status.

The county also pushed the new county animal-shelter opening and the 12 staffing positions associated with its startup into fiscal 2023 after project timing shifted; staff estimated start-up expenses and the 12 employees would be needed in FY23 rather than FY22. Commissioners noted that if the shelter opens earlier they will revisit funding options including the commissioner's emergency reserve or other departmental funds.

On capital projects, staff reported four CIP projects with funding changes that affect FY22 PAGO (county capital funds): county bridge/large-pipe replacements (additional repairs following storm damage), roadway-and-safety improvements (added design funds for roundabouts and intersection work), adjustments to detention-center funding (a small county reduction after additional state funds were identified), and the North County Farmers Market (construction sequencing adjusted so the trail extension is deferred, increasing FY22 county PAGO by $454,000 to award buildings and sheds).

Cudmore, school staff and the commissioners agreed to return on May 18 with an updated revenue-and-expenditure spreadsheet reflecting decisions from the work session and to finalize directions ahead of the May 25 deadline to set FY22 tax rates and adopt the budget. Several items (the allocation of American Rescue funds, final LOSAP contribution and exact Board of Education deltas) were left for that meeting.

The meeting record shows commissioners reached consensus on many smaller appeals and asked staff to produce a final balanced budget scenario incorporating the growth-rate and tax-rate options for the next session. Staff will present updated fiscal notes and funding-source recommendations, including whether American Rescue Plan funds may be used for specific nonprofit or operating requests.