Sudlersville commissioners keep tax rate, cut budget lines and plan payments toward county utilities debt

The Sudlersville Town Commissioners reviewed an amended draft FY27 budget at a March 4 budget work session and agreed to keep the town's current property tax rate while trimming several line items and prioritizing payments toward a county charge related to the transition of utilities.

Town Clerk provided SDAT Constant Yield Rate materials and a draft budget that reflected preliminary decisions from an earlier January workshop. Commissioners reduced anticipated Highway User Revenues from about $50,000 to about $30,000 and lowered General Government professional-services spending from $90,000 to $70,000 as part of a conservative budgeting approach.

Commissioners also discussed beginning to make payments on an amount the county has calculated as due for the utilities transition, cited in the meeting materials at approximately $930,000. After significant discussion, the board said it preferred to maintain the existing town tax rate in light of increased property assessments, recent local events and an upcoming election, while spending conservatively and resolving QuickBooks issues to minimize professional-services costs.

Commission President ET Kimble and the Commissioners instructed the Town Clerk to prepare a formal FY27 draft budget for consideration, including the path forward for required submissions to the State and plans to increase payments toward the county debt in the FY28 budget if feasible.

The session produced no final dollar-by-dollar repayment schedule; commissioners directed staff to present a formal budget draft and supporting documentation at a future meeting for further review and possible inclusion of additional county debt payments.