Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
St. Mary's County budget update: revenues, fund balance and multi-year outlook discussed
Summary
CFO Jeanette Cudmore presented updated revenue and expenditure summaries, showing current revenues of about $259.1 million, use of fund balance for CIP at $8.7 million, and multi-year projections that account for recently approved pay adjustments and OPEB funding proposals.
Jeanette Cudmore, St. Mary's County chief financial officer, presented updated revenue and expenditure summaries during the commissioners' budget work session, outlining current general-fund revenue of approximately $259.1 million and recurring revenues near $250 million. Cudmore said the presentation includes $8.7 million of pay-as-you-go (PayGo) use of fund balance for capital projects in the current version of the budget.
Cudmore told commissioners the county's total fund balance at the 2019 audit was about $65 million. To maintain a 15% reserve level for the 2021 budget, staff had previously identified $9.5 million as available; the current CIP plan uses $8.7 million, leaving roughly $735,000 for nonrecurring operating items unless commissioners direct otherwise.
The budget packet showed baseline reductions of about $477,000 identified from county departments and circuit court, and Cudmore said overall changes between versions reflected a revenue decrease of roughly $92,000 and expense decreases that produced a net positive change of about $255,000.
Cudmore reviewed revenue components: property tax (reflecting a 2.5% increase tied to assessment changes after a constant-yield letter), an income-tax increase of about $9 million over the prior year, and variable other local taxes and highway-user revenues that depend on state datasets (SDAT vs. legislative services). She said staff would continue to validate and update revenue estimates as departments' final requests are confirmed.
The presentation included options for using fund balance, including a proposed $700,000 supplemental transfer to the LOSAP/OPEB trust (bringing that trust to a round $5 million contribution) while noting a long-term target of about $17 million. Commissioners discussed the importance of increasing LOSAP funding and also planning for a possible future professional-services transition for emergency services.
Cudmore presented a multi-year projection with assumptions such as 2% property-tax growth and variable income-tax growth; the projections showed a variance of revenues over expenses starting near $2.0 million in 2021 and increasing to about $17.7 million by 2025 under current assumptions and recommended items. She cautioned this is an empirical projection and will be updated as state actions and other variables (for example, the governor’s education funding decisions) become known.
Commissioners asked staff to continue looking for additional revenue adjustments and to return with updated numbers at upcoming work sessions.
