Charles County Commissioners approved the county’s fiscal 2015 budget during their meeting on June 1o. The $354.5 million budget maintains tax rates and provides no salary increases for employees.

As reported by Southern Maryland News Online:

The Charles County commissioners approved 3-2 a $354.5 million fiscal 2015 budget Tuesday, a 4.6 percent million increase on the county’s current $339 million budget that did not include pay raises for teachers or police or require a property tax increase.

The budget keeps the county’s property tax rate at $1.141 per $100 of assessed value.

The spending plan includes 1.8 and 2.1 percent funding increases for the school system and the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, respectively, but neither covers requested pay increases for teachers, school staff, sheriff’s deputies, or correctional officers.

The county, which was facing a $10.6 million baseline budget shortfall, used a number of fund sources to balance the budget.

The approved plan drew from a variety of sources to balance a $10.6 million baseline deficit, including a $3.5 million one-time recordation tax from a natural gas-fired power plant being built in Waldorf, $2.75 million from the county’s contingency reserves and $2.3 million from the Charles County Board of Education’s fund balance to help fund the first-year operating costs of the new St. Charles High School in Waldorf.

Utilization of the one-time funding sources means the county’s fiscal 2016 budget will begin with a projected $3.6 million baseline deficit.

Fiscal 2015 budget documents can be found on the county’s website.