Allegany County recently adopted its FY 2017 budget of $86 million and includes a decrease in the real property tax rate.

According to the Cumberland Times-News,

“I think we’re pretty proud of this budget,” said commission President Jake Shade. “Unlike other years, I think this year’s budget has been easier than most. There were no tax increases and the spending has been pretty level.”

The budget includes a slight reduction to the real property tax rate, bringing it down to $0.977 per $100 of assessed property value — the lowest since 1991.

“We’ve reduced the tax rate by a tenth of a penny to $0.977, six consecutive years of tax decreases — no one else can say that in the state. It’s something to hang your hat on,” said county finance director Jason Bennett.

The fiscal 2017 budget includes a 1.9 percent increase in county spending to supplement the cost of living wage differential for county employees.

“We feel our county employees deserve at least a minor cost of living increase,” said commissioner Bill Valentine. “We are doing the county’s business with fewer people, so most employees are accepting more and more responsibilities.”

According to officials, education remains the county’s single highest funding priority with 46.3 percent of the county’s general fund expenditures dedicated to the Allegany County Board of Education and Allegany College of Maryland.

To read the full article on Allegany County’s budget, please visit the Cumberland Times-News online.