Caroline County administrator outlines $198.1M FY2027 budget; raises, new positions and CIP highlighted

County Administrator Mister Culley presented the county's proposed FY2027 budget during the Caroline County Board of Supervisors' April 2 work session, describing an all-funds total of $198,102,086.92 and a proposed general fund of $80,763,476.06.

Culley said personnel changes made up a substantial portion of the increase. He proposed a public-safety starting-pay bump that he modeled as $5,000 on starting pay plus a 2% satisfactory-evaluation step, which averages to an 11.41% increase across about 140 public-safety employees and carries an estimated cost (with payroll taxes and benefits) of $1,251,155. He proposed a 2% across-the-scale COLA for regular county employees (averaging roughly 4.25% when combined with step increases), adding $699,271.65 in cost. Combined, his proposed salary adjustments total about $1,950,420.93.

Culley said departments requested 24 general-fund position changes (upgrades, conversions and new positions) with salary and benefits budgeted at approximately $1,887,993.93; two utility-fund hires would be paid from utility revenues and not from the general fund. He showed a range of tax-rate scenarios that board members used to assess how many positions and pay adjustments could be funded at various advertised rates.

Capital projects in the proposed CIP included server upgrades (~$80,000), replacement motor vehicles for the sheriff's office (~$1,116,008.76), computer replacements for Windows 10 expiration (~$195,007.37), a reserve fire engine and ambulance (~$32,500), and a larger public-safety building and a proposed Dawn Community Center (loan proceeds of about $3,000,000 built into debt-service estimates). Culley said school capital requests were far larger than the county could accommodate and that mandated indoor-air-quality work and intercom/card access upgrades were pushed into FY2028 in planning.

Board members pressed for clarifying data (e.g., what 1¢ of real-estate tax yields in revenue, counts of exempt parcels and retention figures) and asked departments to prioritize positions. The Commonwealth's Attorney asked to be included in the public-safety pay plan because body-camera requirements and discovery duties have added workload that the office must absorb without adequate state funding.

Culley and supervisors discussed temporary and permanent options for severe office-space constraints in planning and inspections; options included trailers, leasing or building a public-safety facility that would free room for county departments. Planning staff said the county's GIS upgrades now enable better data for plotting call volumes and inspection backlogs, which supervisors asked staff to produce for public explanation of budget choices.

Culley cautioned that the county's revenue outlook remains uncertain, noting a recent shortfall in sales-tax receipts and that large projected revenues from data centers and industrial projects would not be fully realized until later years. He advised advertising a higher rate than the board thinks it needs because the board can reduce the advertised ceiling after public comment and updated state school numbers are provided.

The board set a path forward: advertise the tax rate (58¢) to allow the public-hearing process and asked administration to supply additional, department-level cost breakdowns and exemption/retention numbers before final budget adoption.