Letter To The Editor: Commissioner Colvin’s Thoughts On The Proposed FY2025 County Budget Tax Increase

The following was submitted by St. Mary’s County Commissioner of District 1 Eric Colvin.

There is never an easy time to raise taxes and such decisions are never made lightly. I want to ensure our residents have a full picture of our current situation and the need for a small increase in the Income Tax rate. Our county budget has multiple sources of revenue, the biggest of which are the Income Tax and Property Tax. All five commissioners were unanimous that we could not hold “Constant Yield” and keep the property tax flat, but we did not increase our property tax rate.  The proposed Income Tax increase from 3.0% to 3.2% would mean that a person making $100,000 would pay $200 more in local income tax over the year—a real and meaningful sum of money that is definitely impactful for a family. 

The Blueprint for Education is a flawed formula for the state of Maryland and detrimental to the counties. Commissioner Hewitt is correct in his letter that the county has exceeded the Blueprint funding requirements, but what is important to note is that the Blueprint funding formula does not include everything that is needed for a school system to operate. It does not include transportation costs, safety and security costs, and enrichment programs like band, chorus, art, and STEM. I do not want to have a St. Mary’s County school system without these important programs.  The Blueprint also does not take into account positions like paraprofessionals, building service workers, athletic trainers, or other support staff—all of whom play important and vital roles in our education system.

The Blueprint does require a starting salary for teachers of $60,000 by July 1, 2026. The Board of Education plan increases the salaries of our newest teachers to reach that amount early, but it does not provide a comparable raise to our more tenured teachers—it is not an increase across the board for all teachers.  To delay implementation of this portion of the Blueprint would not be a fiscally smart or strategic step for several reasons. First, every county is currently working toward that goal, so competition to hire good teachers will only get more difficult as we compete with other higher-salary counties. Second, we have additional county obligations that will also be increasing over the next several years, and delaying implementation would result in a fiscal deficit that would require higher tax increases. This is a forward-looking budget that ensures no additional tax increases.

We must ensure our law enforcement officers have competitive salaries. We promised to revisit LOSAP benefits for our volunteer first responders next year, and that will be an additional but important cost for the county. We have a phased-in increase in salaries for county employees to ensure they remain competitive and can continue to provide services to our county residents. In fact, the only cost savings proposed for the County government during the building of our budget was to decrease the St. Mary’s County employee healthcare benefits—a proposal that, thankfully, was defeated. Additionally, I do not want to see schools like Town Creek Elementary, White Marsh Elementary, and Oakville Elementary closed, which could be a real risk for our school system with the increased requirements they need to meet. 

All of this is being accomplished in the current proposed balanced budget that keeps our property tax rate at the fourth lowest in the entire state. We blame the state government for this tax increase because instead of funding the requirements they laid out in the Blueprint, they spent tax dollars on buying a failing horse racetrack. None of us like paying taxes or seeing this increase, but it is important to note that every tax dollar for St. Mary’s County stays in St. Mary’s County–not to a racetrack elsewhere or a purple/red/blue line.  St. Mary’s County remains a great place to live, work, and raise a family and we are committed to ensuring it remains that way.