The FY 2011 budget as passed by the General Assembly includes an additional $24.4 million to bring the disparity grant funding and the allocations for each eligible jurisdiction back to the level provided in FY 2010. As previously reported, due to shifting distributions of personal income across counties, several jurisdictions saw a considerable decline in their Disparity Grant for FY 2011.   The total of grants to all eligible counties dropped from $121 million in FY 2010 to $97 million in FY 2011.  Five jurisdictions realized a drop in funding, with the largest drop in Prince George’s County, facing a dramatic decline from $21 million to only $3 million.

During budget discussions, the Senate and House agreed to return the Disparity Grant funding to the FY 2010 level through the adoption of a recommendation to use November Net Taxable Income for the grant calculation and maintain the funding cap on each jurisdiction as agreed to last year.   The Governor provided the additional $24.4 million in a supplemental budget bringing the funding for the program and for each eligible jurisdiction back to the level provided in FY 2010.  Click here for a chart showing the funding level by jurisdiction.