2018 County Budgets Show Priorities

Today, July 1, marks the start of a new fiscal year for Maryland’s county governments.

Screenshot 2017-07-01 11.18.29 — Maryland counties fund education and employee salaries while largely maintaining tax rates. Click here for MACo’s chart of county budget actions.

MACo has gathered the overview information on county budgets from various sources for a summary of fiscal 2018 county budget actions.

Budgets

General fund county operating budgets grew by an average of more than 3% statewide.

Employees

Every county provided some employee salary enhancements, with several counties giving special consideration to public safety employees.

Taxes

Most counties maintained tax rates, and some reduced rates and eliminated certain taxes.

Education

More than half of Maryland’s counties exceeded the required education funding, also called “maintenance of effort,” for a total of more than $174 million in additional education funding.

For county-by-county budget details, see MACo’s County Budgets in Brief 2018.