Dorchester County Commissioners recently approved the county’s fiscal 2015 budget. The $64.2 million budget is slightly lower than the prior year and keeps tax rates unchanged.

A MyEasternShoreMD article summarizes some of the items funded in the budget.

During hearings on the budget, more than a dozen people asked the council to allocate an additional $4,444 to the Dorchester Extension Service to allow for full funding of all programs, including 4-H. The council has included this additional funding in the FY15 budget.

The council also agreed to add $5,000 for watershed plan implementation appropriation.

The council added $60,000 for food costs at the county detention center. This additional food cost was caused when the number of inmates at the center decreased because the federal government has stopped housing immigration detainees at the detention center in Cambridge. Judges administering longer sentences, requiring imprisonment in the state system, has also decreased the inmate population at the center, council members said.

The county’s contract for food services increases the price per meal for a lower number of inmates, which has caused a price increase for food at the detention center despite the drop in inmate population.

The council also added $10,000 for a rent subsidy to the Dorchester Soil Conservation Service after it moved to offices on Cedar Street here.

Additional fiscal 2015 budget information can be found on the county’s website.