Frederick County Commissioners approved the county’s fiscal 2014 operating and capital budgets during their commission meeting on June 6. Although the $516 million operating budget doesn’t increase property tax rates, it does make an adjustment to the rate through changes to the fire tax fund.  It also provides a 1% cost-living allowance and a merit increase for employees. From the Commissioners press release:

A key element of the approved budget is that the board addressed the catastrophic issues in the fire tax fund by consolidating the Fire Tax District expenses into the General Fund.  The result was a recalibrated property tax rate of $1.064, which is the sum of the $.936 property tax rate and the $.128 Urban Fire Tax Rate.

The capital budget totals approximately $69 million for fiscal 2014 and $555 million over the span of the Capital Improvement Program.

An overview of the operating and capital budget can be found in the Commissioner’s press release.