Carroll budget talks set to continue Tuesday

Budget talks continue Tuesday, with the Board of Carroll County Commissioners meeting a good part of the morning and afternoon.

The commissioners morning budget meeting is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and again at 1 p.m., both in Room 311 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., in Westminster. The meeting is livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/@CarrollCountyGov.

Anyone can make public comment at the meeting, in person or online. Those wishing to attend online should call 872-240-3212 and enter access code 317-923-893 to join the meeting.

Ted Zaleski, director of Carroll County’s Department of Budget and Finance, stated in an email Monday that there is no agenda for what the commissioners will be discussing.

Commissioners started the budget season in March with a $12.4 million deficit in the proposed operating budget for fiscal 2025, which starts July 1. Revenues are proposed at $524 million and expenditures are at $536.4 million.

Zaleski has offered several suggestions to save money that include changes to the Carroll Transit System.

On Monday, he said no decisions have been made as of yet. “There really hasn’t even been a deep conversation,” he said.

In the system’s proposed fiscal 2025 operating budget, the county is slated to provide $918,780.46 to help run the service. But commissioners last month, suggested looking at the system and how it provides service, in an effort to save money.

The transit system’s preliminary operating budget shows $425,946 in revenue coming from the Federal Transit Administration in fiscal 2025, the same amount the system received in the current fiscal year. The operating budget shows $321,442 coming from the Maryland Transit Administration in fiscal 2025, also the same amount the system received this year. To receive that revenue, the county government must provide $305,876 in fiscal 2025, the same as in the current fiscal year. That money is in addition to the $918,780 the county pays to keep the system running.

Commissioners have made no decisions on whether to fund the proposed increase in funding to the county’s library system. The library system would get an increase of $338,450, or 3% when compared with the current fiscal year, in the proposed fiscal 2025 operating budget. The libraries received $11.3 million in the current fiscal 2024 budget, and next year are proposed to receive about $11.6 million.

But Commissioners’ President Ken Kiler has been on the fence about providing that increase, because of the library’s support for the Freedom to Read Act, passed by the Maryland General Assembly this legislative session. The legislation would set a statewide standard for some content in libraries for the first time. Critics, however, say it would tie the hands of local government and school officials to eliminate materials they find unsuitable for children.

“The Carroll County Board of Commissioners are in the middle of very complex and challenging budget work sessions with many discussions as they plan FY25 and beyond,” Kiler said last week. “It is important to note that no final decisions have been made regarding the budget.”

The county will release the fiscal 2025 proposed budget to the public April 23.

Zaleski will hold a series of community meetings to explain the budget:

• April 24, 7 p.m., Eldersburg Library, 6400 W. Hemlock Drive, Sykesville
• April 25, 7 p.m., Mount Airy Library, 705 Ridge Ave.
• April 29, 7 p.m., Exploration Commons, 50 E. Main St., Westminster
• April 30, 7 p.m., Taneytown Library, 10 Grand Drive
• May 1, 7 p.m., North Carroll Library, 2255 Hanover Pike, Hampstead

Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. May 6 at the Carroll Arts Center at 91 W. Main St. in Westminster.