St. Mary's County commissioners approve final FY2022 budget moves: turf fields, LOSAP and EMS staffing funded

Commissioners for St. Mary's County finalized several allocations and policy choices for the fiscal 2022 budget at a May 18 budget work session, approving one‑time and recurring items and setting aside an allocation for recreation fields at the county high schools.

The action package adopted by unanimous or majority votes covered use of American Rescue Plan funds for nonprofits, the use of fund balance for replacement vehicles, a $2,000,000 supplemental deposit to the county LOSAP (Length of Service Award Program) for volunteer responders, a $2,500,000 commitment toward three high‑school artificial turf fields as a county CIP project, a decision to hire 16 emergency medical services FTEs initially (with remaining needs met by contract), a change to the county income tax assumptions and a 0.3 percent cost‑of‑living adjustment for county and Board of Education employees.

The votes resolved several outstanding questions managers had raised in prior sessions and incorporated updates to the county's American Rescue Plan (ARP) totals. Miss Cudmore, a county budget staff member presenting the packet, told commissioners the current revenue estimate for FY2022 was “about $285,000,000” and that ARP funds were shown separately so the county would not treat them as recurring revenue.

Why this matters: Commissioners used a mix of one‑time and recurring funding to close the FY2022 gap while preserving near‑term capacity for capital projects and negotiated compensation increases. Several choices — notably the turf‑field commitment and additional LOSAP funding — move capital and legacy benefit dollars into the coming year and change how the county plans to spend an expected one‑time fund balance.

Most important outcomes

- Nonprofits: Commissioners…