The St. Mary’s Board of County Commissioners and staff met with a large response when they held a public hearing for the FY11 Budget Tuesday, April 27. Two hearings, officially, on the proposed budget to be adopted in late May and the proposed constant yield property tax rate kept the board hearing public comments for just over four hours.
Commissioner President Jack Russell welcomed the crowd at Chopticon High School and said, “We’ve made some tough cuts this year and there are more to come.” Russell called attention to the fact that services are provided by people and it’s that cost that makes up about two-thirds of the budget. “We are not a manufacturer,” he stated, and indicated avoiding furloughs as a priority of the board.
The county’s Chief Financial Officer Elaine Kramer presented an overview of the proposed budget and a recap of what changing to a constant yield rate would entail. Kramer explained that “decreases were definitely the norm in the FY11 budget,” with a nearly $10.7 million drop in overall revenue. She said $3.5 million of undesignated funds were applied as revenue replacement, with more of the county’s “savings” to be spread over the economically uncertain subsequent years.
The constant yield rate idea, strongly supported by Commissioner Larry Jarboe, Kramer explained would help to offset increasing property tax assessments but would require another $4+ million in cuts. This would mean eliminating another 40 positions, merit increases, and significantly reducing funding to non-profit service entities. Supporters of the change told the board about the many foreclosures in the county and the many families who are ‘upside-down’ in their homes, urging that the constant yield rate would offer relief. The current rate per $100 assessed is .857 percent.
The board heard from many speakers in support of higher public education funding, which is set, for 2011, at the state-mandated maintenance of effort level at $76 million. Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano gave a rousing speech surrounded by the Board of Education, in which he called himself an optimistic person, but said, “For the first time, I’m losing some hope.”
Many teachers spoke about the extra hours and every-day effort they put in, despite poverty-level starting salaries and a growing number of students. Last among counties in per-pupil spending but highly ranked in quality of education, many supporters of higher education funding said they’d like to see the same level of dedication from the commissioners and the community. Anna Laughlin, a 22-year teacher from Leonardtown Middle School, called the technology in SMC schools, “a Band-aid operation,” and several county teachers and support staff, like 40-year employee and Ridge Elementary Building Services Manager Joe Shade, asked, “How can we provide a first place school system with last place funding?”
The County’s funding of the BOE is proposed to drop 4.9 percent, or close to $4 million in FY11.
Sheriff Tim Cameron asked the board to allow the filling of fro
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