Carroll County Director of Management and Budget, Ted Zaleski, this week presented a $686 million fiscal 2022 budget to the Board of County Commissioners. The proposal — which keeps tax rates steady — fully funds the Maintenance of Effort requirement for Carroll County Public Schools, invests in local infrastructure, finances key public safety initiatives, and supports community priorities.
The proposed operating budget is $470.5 million, a 12.7 percent increase from fiscal 2021. Of the $53.4 million increase, $37.3 million is the use of surplus funds for one-time expenditures. Annual revenues increase by $15.6 million, or 3.9 percent, from fiscal 2021, and are driven primarily by growth in income and property taxes, as well as an increase in 9-1-1 fees.
According to a County press release:
The commissioners emphasized that Carroll County’s property tax rate did not increase to balance the proposed budget. The board also discussed the exceptional challenges of COVID-19 during the last 14 months and their satisfaction with delivering a proposed budget in their usual transparent manner. Budget information is available on the county’s budget website with the FY22 Proposed Budget and FY22-27 Recommended Budget Plans available in the next day or two.
A Budget Public Hearing is scheduled to be held virtually on Tuesday, May 11th at 7:00 pm. More information on viewing and participating in the public hearing will be provided closer to the date.
Additional Budget Work Sessions may be held by the commissioners to make any modifications to the proposed budget based on the information received during the Budget Public Hearing. These work sessions are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 18th and Thursday, May 20th.
The FY22 budget adoption is planned for Tuesday, May 25th at 1:00 pm.
