Baltimore County Council Budget Deliberation Meeting - May 15, 2026
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Baltimore County Council Budget Deliberation Meeting - May 15, 2026
The Baltimore County Council convened on May 15, 2026, to deliberate and vote on the fiscal year 2027 budget submitted by the county executive. After extensive discussion and a proposed amendment that was later withdrawn, the council voted unanimously to approve the budget as submitted, which will serve as the basis for formal adoption on May 21, 2026.
Discussion Items
- Councilman Patoka proposed $1 million in cuts across three agencies (Office of Law: $500,000; Police Department: $200,000; Human Resources: $300,000) based on historical returns to fund balance. He intended to use the savings to request the county executive and BCPS superintendent to restore 8–10 teaching positions (or 16–20 with a match) from the 367 positions eliminated in the BCPS budget. He argued the cuts were modest and below the average returns to fund balance.
- Councilman Jones questioned whether teachers were actually losing jobs, noting Superintendent Dr. Rogers stated yesterday that no layoffs were occurring. He also warned that cutting funds could harm departments' ability to fill vacancies and that the savings might not reach BCPS.
- Councilman Crandall echoed that he heard Dr. Rogers say no teachers were losing jobs, and noted BCPS is receiving $44.5 million over maintenance of effort. He expressed concern about cutting the police department's budget.
- Councilman Marks asked if the motion could be split into three separate votes, expressing concern about the police cut.
- Councilman Young noted the cuts were presented without prior consultation with the affected departments or the county executive, calling the process irresponsible. He emphasized that the council has only cut its own budget in the past.
- Budget Director Kevin Reed cautioned against the cuts, noting police is close to a projected $200,000 return and might need a supplemental; the administration will not support a supplemental for BCPS due to the fiscal cliff in FY28. He also asked that any cuts identify the specific item and spend category per Article 7, Section 709 of the county charter.
- Department heads responded: Office of Law Director Benjamin said the surplus is from active vacancies (7.5% vacancy rate, below 10% target) and they are recruiting; HR Director Coleman said surplus was from timing delays and new initiatives; Police Chief McCullough said the department is hiring 183 recruits, has rising overtime and technology costs, and a $200,000 cut could have a significant impact.
- Councilman Patoka withdrew his motion after hearing no appetite from the executive side for a supplemental and seeing trepidation from colleagues.
Key Outcomes
- Councilman Patoka moved to approve the budget as submitted; Councilman Jones seconded. The motion passed unanimously (all present members voting aye: Young, Patoka, Jones, Urtel, Marks, Crandall).
- The council will formally adopt the FY 2027 budget on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 10 a.m. in the council chamber (or courtroom five if electronics work is not complete).
- Acting Auditor Liz Irwin thanked her staff, the budget office, and all involved, noting the complexity of the executive budget process.
Meeting Transcript
Five, Mr. Chair. Okay. All right, we'll get started. Good afternoon. Uh I will now call this budget deliberation meeting to order. Like to welcome my council colleagues and staff on this video teleconference. And also welcome anyone that is viewing or listening to this meeting. We have we have convened this meeting to identify and vote on the budget submitted by the county executive last month. The results of this meeting will serve as the basis for our budget adoption and budget bills we will be voting on next Thursday, May 21st at 10 a.m. Um, I first want to thank acting auditor Liz Irwin and her staff for their tremendous work that have they have put in over the past month. I know Liz is spending lots of nights where she is not sleeping. So uh they've really done a great job of of combing through the budget and looking for um different items, asking good questions, and um it's all all in the name of good governance and fiscal responsibility. Um so they have they've reviewed and analyzed the agency budgets that have come before us for the last few weeks and have greatly assisted in our decision decision making. Also want to thank CAO D'Andrea Walker, budget director Kevin Reed, and all the agency directors and staffs for their cooperation and working with Liz and her staff in order to get us the information we need to make informed budget decisions. Um so I guess I put this out to my my colleagues. Is there any discussion or comments on the budget from the members? Mr. Chair, yes, Councilman Jones. No, I I think that the budget uh certainly looks good, and considering the economic forecast that we uh were presented early on, I think things turned out a lot better than they then we were expecting, for which I'm very grateful. So I don't necessarily see any cuts on my end. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Councilman Jones. Um Mr. Chair. Yes, Councilman Crandall. Um thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I I concur with Councilman Jones. I think that uh we recognize going into this budget season that uh the numbers were gonna be tight. And uh of course we're in a non-capital year, so it's not a way for the county executive to kind of play Santa Claus with a lot of capital projects in our district. But I think that uh if you look at the the capital budget, um there's a I don't say a fair amount of equity um dispersed throughout the county. Um but we we knew going in that things are gonna be tight, and I think um uh the the budget does a good job in prioritization and uh um and I I agree with the the priorities that are uh set out in the budget. Um I recall the conversation we had uh yesterday about retirement, and the auditor's office had noticed that there could be a five million dollar cut to retirement, which is an area that we in the past where we we've used to um to cut the budget down to a number that um would uh would make uh that would make the the enable the budget to uh fall within certain guidelines and parameters. And um I think it was uh a prudent remark by the auditor's office that um just and then by Kevin Reed uh with OBF that you know, cutting something like that just sticks a can down the road. Uh and that that number is gonna have to be paid for at some point, or our uh retirees uh don't get don't get pensions or at least depensions that uh they work to earn. So um again, I think it's a prudent budget. Um I did want to talk about um uh the BCPS. Um I think BCPS is what about 40 million over maintenance of effort requirement. And uh that I think you know, in past years we might have looked at at a number like that as being rather exorbitant. Uh, but then uh we you have to put that that level of funding within the context of the administration, BCPS, CAPCO just went through a labor negotiation. We all supported getting our teachers paid. I think as a council, we we all supported that. So that is a uh another number that maybe in past years that I've been kind of fiscally conservative that I would have uh looked kind of skeptically at, um, but not in this context. So uh uh I think it's again I think it's a fair budget. I think it has um uh uh prudent prioritization and uh with those remarks, uh Mr. Chair, I I have no uh cuts to uh to propose. Okay, thank you, Councilman Crandall, Mr. Chairman.
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