Centerville council reviews budget updates; halves health‑insurance growth estimate, adds halftime code enforcement

Centerville Town Council on March 20 heard a run‑through of revisions to the town's proposed FY26 budget, including a reduced health‑insurance cost projection, a newly estimated $30,000 in medical cannabis sales tax revenue, the addition of a half‑time code enforcement position and a zoning administrator, and a continued projected transfer to fund balance.

Town Manager Karen (no last name provided) opened the session with a summary memo of changes from the prior work session, saying the packet highlights the lines affected and that the health‑insurance increase in the budget had been lowered from the 10% assumption used previously to 6% based on actuarial estimates that staff expected to confirm the following week. The memo also added $30,000 to general‑fund revenues for the town's first full year of medical cannabis sales tax distributions.

The council discussed personnel changes included in the draft. The A92 administration budget adds a half‑time code enforcement officer; staff said Crystal has prepared full‑time cost estimates for comparison but the budget as presented includes half time. Council members generally favored starting at half time with a planned reassessment later. One member summed up the approach: bring the halftime position on now and “reassess every year,” while another noted a zoning administrator would be expected to take on heavier enforcement tasks.

Main Street manager Carol (no last name provided) attended to review her program's budgets and revenue detail. Carol said Main Street's non‑event business support work is the bulk of her workload and provided figures showing revenues of $65,005.60 against expenditures of $58,857.55 in the prior fiscal year. She told the council she was concerned about Drink Maryland, an event she said cost Centerville about $3,400 last year and described it as “a net negative,” and asked the council to review event‑level breakdowns together when everyone could view the detailed spreadsheet.

Other operating budget changes included minor salary corrections, an increase to liability insurance (12.1%), and small line‑item adjustments (for example, a $5,000 increase in the police department's special‑events line to cover swag and intermittent event costs). The capital changes noted in the memo were limited; staff added an item for cemetery‑software implementation and confirmed federal earmarks previously discussed for Tillman and Belvedere street projects remain in the five‑year plan.

Council members also discussed tax rate options. Staff summarized that keeping the current rate would leave the general fund roughly $90,000 in the black (transfer to fund balance) and the enterprise fund with a $40,000 surplus; the council briefly considered lowering the rate by one penny and the likely approximate revenue impact (a single penny was estimated at about $73,000–$77,000). Several members urged caution given uncertain near‑term revenue streams, including local income tax volatility and upcoming wastewater treatment costs.

On other staffing and operations items, the streets department budget added a seasonal part‑time employee for April–September. Waste removal remains in the final year of the current contract; staff said an RFP would likely be worked on this calendar year for FY27. Staff also confirmed the town will receive final health‑insurance actuarial rates the following Monday and expected to present final numbers at the council's April 3 work session.

The council did not take a formal vote at the session; discussion produced direction for staff to finalize the numbers (health insurance, Main Street detail, and capital funding sources) and return with updated sheets on April 3. Staff said they would also add a capital‑funding sheet that distinguishes grant‑funded projects (such as the federal earmark for Belvedere/Tillman) from locally funded capital.

Ending: Council members left the session broadly comfortable with the draft changes and with the plan to finalize remaining details — health‑insurance rates and Main Street event breakdowns — at the next work session April 3.