The Frederick County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to remove a proposal from consideration that called for the privatization of a number of governmental services.  Under the proposal, a substantial number of public services and subsequently public jobs, would be outsourced to private businesses including road maintenance and parks and recreation programs.  This transition would have trimmed an estimated 13 -21 percent from the county’s operating budget, saving the county $109 million over a span of five years. The decision to remove the public private partnership proposal from the table comes after citizen input provided at public hearings strongly urged the Board to remove the report. In a letter to Frederick County Government Employees issued July 19, Commission President Blaine Young states:

While the report and the proposed timeline are no longer on the table before the Board, we will continue to review and weigh the benefits of reducing spending through pilot and hybrid public-private partnerships and other cost-saving measures presented by our Division Directors.

We wish to express our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to our county employees who attended the past two public hearings and presented comments. We received an extensive list of excellent suggestions as to ways we can work together to reduce costs in our day-to-day operations.