Caroline County holds FY2026 budget hearings; volunteers seek property-tax incentive and training funds

Caroline County Commissioners convened public hearings on the fiscal year 2026 operating and capital budget and on municipal real property tax differential rates, where volunteer fire leaders urged a property-tax incentive and $20,000 for specialized training and county officials warned of a roughly $2 million gap between spending requests and projected revenue.

The comment period opened with testimony from the vice president of the Caroline County Firemen's Association, who asked the commissioners to consider a $20,000 appropriation for specialty rescue and heavy-equipment training and to adopt a municipal property-tax incentive for volunteers who meet eligibility requirements. "If we can retain the people that we have, the retainment will take care of the recruitment," the vice president said, arguing that a tax incentive for volunteers who serve three years would help recruiting and keep…