The Anne Arundel County Council approved the county’s budget this week, raising taxes and providing salary increases to employees. As reported by the Capital:

Anne Arundel homeowners will pay about $26 a year more in property taxes in 2014, but water and sewer fees won’t rise as much as previously expected after the County Council passed a $1.3 billion budget on Tuesday.

The water and sewer rates were originally scheduled to increase by 5 percent next year, but the council slashed $10.2 million from the utilities fund, paring down the increase.

The operating budget — about 7.1 percent more than last year’s budget- also includes 3 percent raises for all county employees, which several councilmen said was a high point.