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After six weeks of collaboration, the County Council passed an operating budget yesterday that cut no programs from the one I proposed on May 1, and reallocated only a very small amount of capital funding that we supported. And despite the fact that it’s an election year and five of the seven members are on the ballot, the budget was approved with a 7-0 vote. In other words, everyone for the most part put politics aside, took a pause on campaigning, and did the peoples’ work. That hasn't always been the case, so I'm grateful.
My role after the May 1 proposal is deliberately behind the scenes. The Council holds their own public hearings, and our Budget Officer, former Councilman Chris Trumbauer, works his magic. Magic, in this case, is to respect the views of all seven councilmembers, facilitate consensus, and try to deliver something for each. I take pride in the bipartisan nature of this process, because good ideas come from many sources.
Most years, Trumbauer works to fund council priorities from money freed up by Auditor-recommended efficiency cuts. This year, no operating budget cuts were recommended, so the budget team had to get creative.
The primary solution was to reduce what had been a pretty hefty allocation to the CAO Contingency Fund. That paid for most of what the Council agreed to on the operating side, including:
- $204K for five more firefighter positions to grow the increase from 21 to 26
- $510K for an additional $1/hour increase for all Teacher Support Assistants at AACPS, bringing their raise in this budget to $2/hour
- $25K for the Southern High School greenhouse
- $58K for a mechanic position for libraries
- $150K for security grants to local nonprofits and faith-based organizations at risk of hate crimes
For the Capital Budget, the supplemental was able to utilize a combination of unused affordability and cuts that we had agreed to from elsewhere to add:
- $3.9M for a second Field House, allowing us to fully fund both the Arundel and Chesapeake High School field houses
- $500K for a new Southern High School team room
- $1.3M for AACPS feasibility studies for four schools
- $250K to move the Ruth Parker Eason feasibility study from FY31 to FY27
- $175K for a West County Community Center Study
My only disappointment, and it’s a relatively minor one, was a vote by the three Republicans on the Council and one Democrat to cut FY27 funding for two public water access projects that had been in the works for years - Valentine Creek Park and Beachwood Park. It’s a longstanding gripe of mine that many of the park improvements that offer the greatest public benefit generate opposition from small groups of neighbors who oppose public use of public land near where they live, even though they are happy to visit public parks near where other people live. And then councilmembers who smell a few votes to be had, or owe favors to each other, whip votes to kill the projects. I hope that the next County Executive and Council come to understand how shortsighted this kind of politics can be, and fund both projects next year.
But there is otherwise a lot of appreciation to go around this week. We passed a budget that lowers property taxes, funds a record $73.4 million increase to support our public schools, expands health and human services programs to protect our communities from federal threats, and grows our public safety agencies to keep our communities safe. If you want to explore these investments, you can visit aacounty.org/FY27Budget.
Budgeting is the hardest part of governing, and in Anne Arundel County, we just showed how it’s supposed to work. And most importantly, in my view, we are leaving a house in good order so that the next administration can continue working to make our county the best place for all.
Until next week…