Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Councilmember seeks one-time use of excess surplus for school deferred maintenance in CB20
Summary
Councilmember introduced CB20 to direct a portion of the county's unassigned fund balance toward school deferred maintenance; the work session discussion focused on accounting categories, timing, and whether the request would change ordinary budget and board-of-education processes.
Councilmember introduced CB20 at the Howard County Council work session as a proposal to allocate some portion of the county's unassigned fund balance toward deferred capital maintenance needs of the public schools.
The sponsor framed the bill as a targeted, one-year measure to capture excess surplus already shown in the county's audited financial statements and direct it to school deferred-maintenance projects that the schools and the council have identified as high priority. The sponsoring member pointed to the FY24 audited general-fund balance sheet showing an "unassigned" balance that staff and auditors report as available for one-time uses and asked the council to consider $36.5 million of that balance for school maintenance needs.
Finance staff and the county's external-audit representative explained how fund-balance accounting and the charter interact. Rafael Healy, director of finance, described the four fund-balance categories in government accounting (nonspendable, restricted, committed and assigned) and said assignments for specific one-time uses are normally made as part of the executive's budget process. Healy cautioned that the balance sheet is a point-in-time snapshot: the unassigned figure reported at the end of FY24 includes prior-year activity and the executive has already assigned portions of the fund balance for FY25 and FY26 spending in some cases.
Councilmembers and staff discussed timing constraints and legal mechanics. Office of Law and budget staff said that the normal budget and capital-appropriation process starts with the Board of Education's capital request, then the county executive includes or adjusts funding in the executive budget, and the council may restore reductions or change appropriations during its review. Several councilmembers urged a narrowly tailored approach to avoid disrupting the county's reserves or credit-rating expectations; staff noted rating agencies watch reserve levels and that using too large a share of one-time funds can create future operational risk.
Participants said practical next steps would include clarity about which portion (if any) of the unassigned FY24 balance remains available after executive assignments, and whether the Board of Education would revise its capital request to reflect the council's intent. Legal staff observed the bill, as drafted, would signal to the school board that the council desired a deferred-maintenance allocation; however, board and executive agreement would still be necessary to appropriate and disburse funds.
No formal council vote on CB20 occurred in the work session. Councilmembers asked for additional detail and coordination steps, including: up-to-date FY25 midyear numbers showing current unassigned fund balance and assigned uses; a clear list of deferred-maintenance priorities from the Board of Education; and legal review on whether an ordinance or charter amendment would be needed for repeated or ongoing redirection of unassigned fund balance.
Background: Under government accounting standards and the county charter, unassigned fund balance at fiscal year close can be used for one-time expenditures, subject to council appropriation after the executive proposes a budget. CB20 would aim to direct one-year excess funds to school deferred-maintenance projects, but council members and staff flagged timing, assignment and intergovernmental steps that would be needed for the approach to be effective.
