St. Mary’s County commissioners trim FY2019 personnel requests, defer large pay increases pending Annapolis

St. Mary’s County commissioners on Tuesday narrowed requests in the fiscal 2019 budget, ordering multiple reductions and realignments to department hiring plans while setting aside one-time money for several capital and equipment items. The board also agreed to delay major salary and benefit decisions until the state’s education legislation and other Annapolis actions are clearer.

The panel met in Leonardtown for a budget work session led by Commissioner President Randy Guy and heard a presentation from Chief Financial Officer Jeanette Cudmore and Deputy Director of Finance Jody Quasney. Cudmore told commissioners the county had approximately $2.1 million available in the current budget cycle, including roughly $653,954 in proposed one-time uses of fund balance that the board could approve for nonrecurring items.

Why it matters: Commissioners described a gap between the county’s requests and available revenue. State policy under consideration in Annapolis — commonly referred to in the session as the Kirwan education package — could increase the county’s long-term obligations and influenced the board’s decision to hold off on broad new recurring commitments now.

What the board changed

- Sheriff’s office: The sheriff asked for $1.8 million in additions, including new civilian and sworn positions, vehicle replacements and promotion-related pay steps. Commissioners trimmed that request in stages but left the department a larger allocation than some other agencies. The board agreed the county would use available fund balance and vacancy savings to cover some one-time purchases tied to the sheriff’s requests. Commissioners said the final number for the sheriff would remain under review as staff models the impacts.

- Department position requests: Commissioners reviewed 18.25 requested FTEs (excluding the sheriff). The board removed two positions the county had proposed previously: a fiscal specialist in finance and an ombudsman in economic development. Several positions were retained but converted to a non‑recurring or hourly format where departments indicated cost-neutral or small net impacts.

- Emergency services: The board removed two administrative coordinator positions that had been requested for emergency services, agreed the animal warden position should be retained, and directed staff to consider hiring an accreditation manager midyear or on contract rather than as a full-year hire. Commissioners also expressed support for an EMS operations manager but left the timing to staff and departmental needs.

- Public Works and Recreation: Commissioners cut the request for four additional equipment-operator FTEs and instead chose to keep two current vacancies open to preserve core public-works operations; they also kept a vacant equipment mechanic position for Recreation and Parks while cutting new hires.

- Aging & Human Services and Human Resources: The board agreed to convert a vacant database specialist in Aging & Human Services toward funding a Wellness and Safety officer in Human Resources, approving the realignment rather than adding net FTEs.

One-time funding and next steps

Cudmore presented a list of nonrecurring items totaling $653,954 that commissioners directed staff to fund from the county’s fund balance; the sheet included audiovisual upgrades for the commissioners’ meeting room and other equipment purchases. Commissioners also asked staff to prepare a phased approach, showing how potential recurring costs (including salary and health-care scenarios) would affect the longer-term baseline.

The board repeatedly emphasized the need to wait for clarity from Annapolis on the state’s education funding proposals before committing to major recurring increases. Several commissioners said the county should fund ongoing obligations such as cost-of-living adjustments or step increases already negotiated for employees, but hold larger new recurring items until state actions are finalized.

Meeting process and engagement

Cudmore and staff answered detailed questions about vacancy lists, departmental rankings and hiring delays. Commissioners asked departments to explain long-standing vacancies and to provide more precise cost and priority information. The board directed staff to return with updated budget worksheets showing the net impacts of the cuts and the proposed reassignments.

Ending

The board scheduled follow-up work sessions to finalize FY2019 balancing, asked staff to return next week with fee and well‑monitoring proposals (see separate article), and left major recurring personnel decisions contingent on the state legislative outcomes expected in the coming weeks. No formal roll-call vote was required to adopt the agreed list of reductions; commissioners recorded their consensus on lines of the budget during the session.