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School leaders praise proposed FY27 capital funding; resident urges tapping investment income
Summary
Howard County Public School System leaders thanked the county for proposed full funding of the FY27 capital request; a resident suggested using general fund investment income (citing potential additional revenue) to help fund schools.
Howard County school leaders used the council's FY27 capital budget public hearing to thank county officials for a proposed allocation that would fully fund the Board of Education's request and to underscore the district's facility needs.
"The county executive's proposed capital budget fully funds the Board of Education's request," William Barnes, superintendent of the Howard County Public School System, said, adding that the support would help address deferred maintenance and accelerate critical projects. "I strongly encourage the county council to fully fund the county executive's proposed capital budget allocation for the school system," Barnes said.
Board member Dr. Linfeng Chen echoed appreciation and described the scale of facility needs across more than 80 school and office buildings, many built before 1980. Chen also noted that on March 26 the county executive announced funding for the Board's request and thanked county leaders for what the transcript described as "a historic investment" (the testimony referenced a "$98.6 investment" but did not specify units in the remarks).
A resident offered a revenue-focused alternative. Anthony Dibella of Laurel urged the county to use general fund investment income to support school funding, arguing that recent surpluses and projected returns could yield additional current-year revenue. "Based on the predictability of returns... it could be predicted that in FY '27, investment income will generate an additional $10,000,000 of current year revenue," Dibella said, and he recommended allocating investment income "up to $34,000,000" to help fully fund HCPSS requests.
Why it matters: School facility condition and capital funding affect safety, learning environments and long-term deferred maintenance costs. Leaders framed the county executive's proposal as an opportunity to reduce backlog and keep projects on an accelerated timeline.
Council members did not vote during the hearing; budget deliberations and work sessions will follow, where revenue assumptions and allocations will be considered.
