Charles County Commissioners Meeting

On September 1, 2026, the Board of County Commissioners convened to approve multiple board appointments and review the preliminary FY 2026 General Fund fourth-quarter results. The meeting featured a briefing by fiscal staff on projected revenue gains and fund balance recommendations, followed by unanimous votes on appointments and reserve fund reservations.

Consent Calendar

• All appointments and reappointments were approved unanimously by roll-call vote (Commissioners Bowling, Coates, Stewart, Patterson, and Collins all present). Items included: Emmanuel Tajuba as financial expert to the Internal Audit Oversight Committee; Lorenzo Childress III to the Adult Public Guardianship Review Board; Carmelita White, Marcala Cano, and Christie Hall to the Board of Social Services; Catherine Burnham to the Commission for Veterans Affairs; and Sabrina Kelly and Latise Cooper to the Commission for Women.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comment period was included in the available transcript.

Discussion Items

• FY 2026 Q4 General Fund Review & Fund Balance Reserves: Jake Dyer, Director of Fiscal Ministry of Services, and Sam Chiriaco, Chief of Budget, presented the preliminary fourth-quarter general fund results for fiscal year 2026. The county is projecting a $34.5 million gain, subject to external audit adjustments. Revenue outperformance was driven by stronger-than-expected income and property tax receipts. Property tax collections finished at $380.7 million versus a $305.2 million budget, and income taxes finished at $226.4 million versus an adjusted budget of $184.5 million. Income tax revenue was bolstered by a one-time $6.5 million overdistribution from the state that will be recouped in FY 2027 via reduced quarterly distributions. Federal layoffs were not yet a material factor in income tax receipts, though withholding growth is decelerating (16% Nov, 17% Feb, 7% May over prior year).
• Commissioner? raised a concern about whether federal layoffs and their potential impact on personal income tax revenue had been factored; Director Jake Dyer responded that the trends do not appear to show such an impact yet, noting that income tax distributions were up 16% (November), 17% (February), and 7% (May) over prior-year periods, but withholding growth has started to decline. The board also discussed that the projected $34.5 million general fund surplus is unaudited and subject to external auditor review and adjusting journal entries. The preliminary results: revenue gains were driven by property taxes finishing at $380.7 million versus a $305.2 million budget (a $75.5 million favorable variance) and income taxes finishing at $226.4 million versus the $184.5 million adjusted budget (a $41.9 million favorable variance). The county anticipates a one-time state recoupment of $6.5 million in FY2027 income tax distributions due to the state's overdistribution to most counties (with a few under-distributed), which has not been pulled back from the presented numbers. The presenters also noted that income tax growth has been seen across all of Maryland's largest counties; Montgomery and Baltimore counties had variances larger than Charles County's entire income tax budget. County staff noted that federal layoffs did not appear to materially reduce income tax receipts; the November distribution was 16% above prior year, February 17%, and May 7% above prior year (via withholdings through March 31). The county is scheduling its bond rating presentation sooner than usual (end of September) and therefore brought this fourth quarter report to the Board on September 1. External auditors will review the numbers; journal entries and transactions may adjust the final fund balance. Staff requested approval of fund balance reservations as part of this item. The item was approved unanimously. [This section contains no content about the consent calendar.]