OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

FY27 Recommended Budget Presentation and Discussion - March 17, 2026

County Commissioners & Boards — Tuesday, March 17, 2026
BodyCarroll County, Maryland
SessionCounty Commissioners & Boards
DateTuesday, March 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:34:42

Transcript — Verbatim
26:23

And we are now in session for the recommended budget.

26:25

We will begin with Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silent reflection.

26:40

Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

27:00

Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

27:02

Welcome to the recommended budget presentation for FY27.

27:06

Uh, just to give everybody a brief introduction here, the recommended budget that we will be uh receiving a presentation on today uh has been based on previous years, has been crafted by budget and management with some input from commissioners.

27:20

This is not the final budget.

27:21

I think that's incredibly important to say this is not the final budget.

27:24

This is only a presentation.

27:25

The final budget uh will occur in uh in May.

27:29

And after today, the commissioners will begin working in earnest on the budget, uh beginning with agency hearings next week.

27:36

Uh today is again just a recommended budget presentation.

27:39

And so Ted, I will kick things over to you and Heidi to take us through this amazing presentation.

27:44

Sure, after you stole my thunder.

27:48

All right, so next step in their journey.

27:51

Uh FY27 recommended budget and our plans for FY27 through 32.

27:57

As always, I encourage you to not read ahead in the presentation.

28:00

There's an order to this for a reason, and I want to step you through it.

28:05

Uh you have a bunch of materials in front of you.

28:09

Commissioner Kyler has already complained that it's too much stuff.

28:12

Um but you have a recommended budget summary.

28:16

You've got the recommended CIP or the capital side of things.

28:20

You have a recommended budget compared to FY26 that does not include some of the pen uh benefit allocations, so that you're just saying what's happening to these budgets, not things really external to them.

28:34

And then you have the same information with the benefit allocations, which is actually what the budget will look like.

28:58

That said, uh our problems have not all gone away, and we'll talk more about this as we get through.

29:06

And lots of things to be concerned about, but for me, still the big one is blueprint, and blueprint will come up more.

29:14

But on the county side of things, the big concern is the state is projecting shortfalls in their budget exceeding three billion dollars a year.

29:24

Most of that is about lack of funding for blueprint.

29:28

They can solve that on their own, but will they solve it on on their own?

29:33

So my concern is do they look to counties to say you need to do more than we said you did.

29:40

FY 26 year end.

29:42

We talked about this less than two weeks ago.

29:44

I'm not gonna spend a lot of time here, but just a quick refresher.

29:51

As of a week and a half ago, our revenue projection will lead us to expect about 44 million dollars more than what we budgeted.

30:02

This is really about all of your major revenues coming in more than we expect, which is is not common.

30:10

But the big change is income tax.

30:14

And as always, I remind you, you know, we get 90 percent of our income tax revenue in four big distributions.

30:21

We've gotten two of those.

30:23

The other two, we don't see them.

30:26

We don't know anything until after you have made all of your decisions.

30:30

So there is still a great deal of uncertainty here.

30:33

And it's possible to say income tax will come in higher than we have suggested here, but it's also possible to say it could come in lower than what we've suggested here.

30:43

You have some projected unexpended, all leading to a year-end projection right now of about $51 million.

30:53

You're currently sitting on about $37 million.

30:57

If we make our adjustments for the stability, uh operational stability reserve and the stabilization fund, and then take out the one percent that we always carry forward to another year, that would leave you with a projected $79 million at the end of fiscal year 26.

31:16

There is no getting around.

31:17

This is a big number.

31:19

Uh this is not typical of what we see, and this leads to a lot of misunderstanding and to a lot of hope for things that this I would argue this money can't do.

31:32

And that's people have a lot of things they'd like you to do, a lot of things they'd like you to fund.

31:37

And often what we're talking about is ongoing funding.

31:40

Uh not the only one by any means, but the biggest would be funding for schools.

31:45

And you know, advocating for school funding and say, look, you've got all this money, just give more to the school system so they can make improvements.

31:56

Uh the problem is by the very nature of this number, it's one-time money.

32:02

Uh school funding or anything else, you can't just fund it next year.

32:07

You have to fund it the year after that and the year after that and so on.

32:10

You can't do that with this money.

32:13

We are going to talk about some things, though, where I believe you do have opportunities to make good, wise use of this money.

32:24

And on that idea.

32:26

Uh I think these will get this will get more discussion as we go through the process, but I want to bring up some ideas.

32:32

And this is not an exhaustive list.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Education Funding████████████12%
Public Safety███████████11%
Public Works███████7%
Pension Funding██████6%
Enterprise Funds Management████4%
Community Engagement███3%
Agricultural Preservation███3%
Procedural██2%
Summary of Proceedings

FY27 Recommended Budget Presentation and Discussion

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners held an open session on March 17, 2026, to receive the recommended FY27 budget presentation from the Department of Management and Budget. Ted Zaleski, Director, presented an overview of the county's financial outlook, including revenue projections, expenditure plans, and key challenges. Commissioners discussed funding priorities, one-time surplus use, and long-term planning.

Discussion Items

  • Budget Overview: Ted Zaleski presented the FY27 recommended budget, emphasizing it is not final and will be refined through workshops and agency hearings. The county projects a year-end fund balance of approximately $79 million in FY26, which is largely one-time money.
  • Revenue and Expenditure Outlook: Revenues are expected to exceed budget by about $44 million, primarily from income tax. However, the state projects a $3 billion+ shortfall, and county long-term projections show a negative balance by FY32 if ongoing expenditures are added.
  • School Funding: The recommended budget includes a 3% increase ($7.6 million) for Carroll County Public Schools, per board direction. The school board requested an additional $6.4 million (5-6% increase). Debt service for school construction is also included.
  • Public Safety: Sheriff’s Office budget is about $32 million, up 6%, driven by increased inmate population and medical costs. Fire and EMS expenditures are being reorganized to capture costs centrally; the EMS billing special revenue fund was explained.
  • Capital Projects: The capital budget for FY27 is significantly lower due to no major new projects. Key school projects include HVAC replacements, a Liberty High School feasibility study, and pre-K additions. Roads, bridges, parks, and other infrastructure are included.
  • Risk Factors: Federal changes (FEMA, HUD), state budget (Blueprint implementation), and potential mandates could impact the county. The state’s income tax growth projection drops from 7% to 1.8% after FY27.
  • One-Time Surplus Options: Zaleski suggested using the FY26 surplus for Northern Landfill expansion, PFAs remediation, state road improvements, and a revolving loan fund for volunteer fire companies.
  • Commissioner Discussion: Commissioners questioned details on forest conservation mitigation fees, nonprofit funding status, the homestead tax credit rate, and alignment of school board budget timelines. They noted that the budget schedule is tight and changes require careful assessment.

Key Outcomes

  • No votes were taken during this session; it was an informational briefing.
  • The Board will hold agency hearings on March 19 and 24, followed by work sessions between March 24 and April 14.
  • The proposed budget will be released April 21, with public hearings on May 6, and adoption scheduled for May 21.
  • Staff will follow up on commissioner requests, including checking nonprofit status and analyzing a potential change in the homestead tax credit rate.

Meeting Transcript

And we are now in session for the recommended budget. We will begin with Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silent reflection. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the recommended budget presentation for FY27. Uh, just to give everybody a brief introduction here, the recommended budget that we will be uh receiving a presentation on today uh has been based on previous years, has been crafted by budget and management with some input from commissioners. This is not the final budget. I think that's incredibly important to say this is not the final budget. This is only a presentation. The final budget uh will occur in uh in May. And after today, the commissioners will begin working in earnest on the budget, uh beginning with agency hearings next week. Uh today is again just a recommended budget presentation. And so Ted, I will kick things over to you and Heidi to take us through this amazing presentation. Sure, after you stole my thunder. All right, so next step in their journey. Uh FY27 recommended budget and our plans for FY27 through 32. As always, I encourage you to not read ahead in the presentation. There's an order to this for a reason, and I want to step you through it. Uh you have a bunch of materials in front of you. Commissioner Kyler has already complained that it's too much stuff. Um but you have a recommended budget summary. You've got the recommended CIP or the capital side of things. You have a recommended budget compared to FY26 that does not include some of the pen uh benefit allocations, so that you're just saying what's happening to these budgets, not things really external to them. And then you have the same information with the benefit allocations, which is actually what the budget will look like. That said, uh our problems have not all gone away, and we'll talk more about this as we get through. And lots of things to be concerned about, but for me, still the big one is blueprint, and blueprint will come up more. But on the county side of things, the big concern is the state is projecting shortfalls in their budget exceeding three billion dollars a year. Most of that is about lack of funding for blueprint. They can solve that on their own, but will they solve it on on their own? So my concern is do they look to counties to say you need to do more than we said you did. FY 26 year end. We talked about this less than two weeks ago. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time here, but just a quick refresher. As of a week and a half ago, our revenue projection will lead us to expect about 44 million dollars more than what we budgeted. This is really about all of your major revenues coming in more than we expect, which is is not common. But the big change is income tax. And as always, I remind you, you know, we get 90 percent of our income tax revenue in four big distributions. We've gotten two of those. The other two, we don't see them. We don't know anything until after you have made all of your decisions. So there is still a great deal of uncertainty here. And it's possible to say income tax will come in higher than we have suggested here, but it's also possible to say it could come in lower than what we've suggested here. You have some projected unexpended, all leading to a year-end projection right now of about $51 million. You're currently sitting on about $37 million. If we make our adjustments for the stability, uh operational stability reserve and the stabilization fund, and then take out the one percent that we always carry forward to another year, that would leave you with a projected $79 million at the end of fiscal year 26. There is no getting around. This is a big number. Uh this is not typical of what we see, and this leads to a lot of misunderstanding and to a lot of hope for things that this I would argue this money can't do. And that's people have a lot of things they'd like you to do, a lot of things they'd like you to fund. And often what we're talking about is ongoing funding.

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