Queenstown commissioners accept draft FY26 budget and introduce Ordinance 25-04 setting tax rates and an 8% water and sewer increase

Queenstown Commissioners on June 3 accepted the draft fiscal year 2026 budget and moved to introduce Ordinance 25-04, which records new tax rates and an eight percent increase to monthly water and sewer consumption rates.

At the work session, Commissioner Tom Willis moved to accept the draft FY26 budget as presented; Commissioner Bryon Callahan seconded and the motion carried 3-0. After the budget motion, President Al Hardee moved to introduce Ordinance 25-04; Callahan seconded and the introduction carried 3-0.

Ordinance 25-04, as recorded in the meeting minutes, adopts a general budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and establishes a real property tax rate of $0.2312 per $100 of assessed value, a tax rate of $0.58 per $100 for commercial or business personal property, and a tax rate of $2.50 per $100 for assessed public utilities. The ordinance also adopts an enterprise budget for the town's water and sewer operations and records an increase to monthly water and sewer consumption rates by eight percent (8%), language that appears in the ordinance text as adopted June 22, 2022.

The commissioners scheduled a public hearing on Ordinance 25-04 for June 18, 2025, at 6 p.m. The board agreed to hold its regular meeting immediately after that public hearing rather than on the usual June 11 date, and noted there will be no meeting June 25 because town staff will be attending the annual Maryland Municipal League (MML) conference that week.

The work session was called to order at 4:02 p.m. and adjourned at 4:39 p.m. Final consideration and any vote on Ordinance 25-04 will take place following the public hearing on June 18.