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Anne Arundel budget officer outlines $2.58 billion FY27 proposal, including higher tax rate to fund schools
Summary
County budget officer Chris Trumbauer presented a balanced FY27 general fund budget of $2,577,129,400, proposing a 96.8¢ property tax rate (above the charter cap) to fund educator pay and 26 special-education positions while holding a $5.7M contingency for federal funding risks.
Chris Trumbauer, the county budget officer, told the Anne Arundel County Council that the proposed fiscal year 2027 general fund totals $2,577,129,400 and is balanced without a structural deficit.
The budget, Trumbauer said, is supported by modest revenue growth in income and property taxes and elevated investment income. It increases the general fund by $176 million, or about 7.3 percent, versus the prior year and by $131.7 million, or 5.9 percent, after fund-balance adjustments.
Trumbauer said the county charter’s property tax revenue cap would yield a rate of 96.2¢ per $100 of assessed value, but the county executive has proposed a rate of 96.8¢. "The proposed rate is still a cents," he said, and the additional revenue is intended to support ‘‘an equitable compensation package for school system employees and 26 new special education positions.’’
The presentation listed priorities funded in the proposal: $1.054 billion in direct school funding, a 2.25 percent cost-of-living adjustment for county employees, funding to staff the police department’s real-time information center, 21 new firefighter positions, and $2 million for the Anne Arundel County Food Bank. Trumbauer also said the proposed capital improvement program is within debt-affordability guidelines and more than $5 million under the county’s limit for the six‑year program.
Officials flagged changes to user charges: solid-waste fees were proposed to increase about 10 percent, water and sewer rates about 9 percent, and an average annual residential water/sewer bill was estimated at roughly $1,033. Trumbauer said the stormwater fee would remain unchanged.
The budget officer noted that all recurring expenses would be paid with recurring revenues and that $5.7 million of unappropriated fund balance would be held as a contingency against potential federal funding impacts.
The council did not act on the proposals during the public-comment portion; Trumbauer’s overview set the context for numerous speakers who followed, urging the council to restore or augment particular items for schools, social services and security programs.
The council’s next steps will be to consider amendments and public testimony before acting on final rates and appropriations.
