Caroline County unveils FY2026 budget proposal; commissioners cite state mandates and hold major rates steady

Deputy Administrator Daniel Fox summarized Caroline County’s proposed fiscal 2026 operating and capital budgets at a May 6 public hearing, telling the Caroline County Commissioners that property tax and income tax remain the county’s two largest revenue drivers and that the county is proposing to hold major rates steady.

"Property tax has not been increased or adjusted and [is] going on 10 years," Fox said, and he noted the property tax rate in the proposal is "proposed at 98¢, per a hundred dollars of assessed value." He also said the county plans to keep the income tax rate at 3.2% for the eighth straight year.

The proposal reflects several state-driven cost shifts that increased county obligations this year, Fox said. Counties must now pay 90% for a local state office that the county previously funded at 50% (an estimated additional $146,000), and the state is phasing down its…