The St. Mary’s County Commissioners presented their Christmas wish lists Monday at the first workshop for the Fiscal Year 2015 budget. The desires of the commissioners were preliminary as the budget process won’t really begin in earnest until next February.
Chief Financial Officer Elaine Kramer and Deputy Director Jeanett Cudmore presented the six-year Capital Improvement Plan that is incorporated in the current year’s budget as a reminder to the commissioners about what they had already tentatively approved. Kramer said she was “looking for guidance” from the commissioners.
Although the session dealt mostly with the county capital budget (the county has already approved the school board’s capital budget for submission to the state), Commissioner Lawrence Jarboe (R: 3rd) asked Kramer and Cudmore to report back on the fiscal impact of three proposed tax breaks for citizens:
· Reducing the age from 70 to 65 for senior citizens to take advantage of the senior tax credit
· Capping property assessment increase at 2.5 percent instead of the current 5 percent, and
· Eliminating the energy tax.
Kramer said she would come back to the commissioners with that information in December.
Commissioner Todd Morgan (R: 4th) asked for consideration to moving to the Fiscal Year 2015 budget from 2016 the $60,000 set aside for streetscape improvements. He said the project to provide street lights in Colony Square has been successful and he suggested using the money for street lights along Great Mills Road fr
