CUMBERLAND — If the proposed doomsday state budget proposals become law, Allegany and Garrett counties would be hit hard.
“The sheriff’s total budget is $2.6 million, you take away $154,000 and that’s two employees with salary and fringe benefits right there,” said Monty Pagenhardt, Garrett County administrator.
The cuts would total millions in Allegany and Garrett counties, hitting police, libraries and schools especially hard, according to information provided by state budget analysts to Sen. George Edwards on Tuesday.
Disparity grants and supplemental disparity grants alone would be slashed by more than $2.5 million. The supplemental disparity grants would be the offset the state paid to counties for one year to limit the impact of shifting half the cost of teacher pensions to the counties, Pagenhardt said.
The regular disparity grants are placed in the county’s general funds and are awarded by the state to counties with low income tax revenues. Allegany County would lose $1.6 million in supplemental disparity grants and $729,851 in direct disparity grants under the proposed budget cuts.
In addition, Allegany County would lose $565,744 in police aid, $76,708 in library aid and $978,816 in per-pupil aid.
The school cuts would be in addition to cuts already expected, said Mia Cross, spokeswoman for the Allegany County Board of Education. “It’s new information that was just received today,” Cross said. If the cuts would go through, it would force the board to re-examine Superintendent David Cox’s budget and make further cuts, Cross said.
There is a chance though, that the doomsday proposal by legislative leaders is more saber-rattling than the real deal.
Delegate Wendell Beitzel hopes legislative leaders may be using the doomsday proposal as something of an attempt to highlight the impact of some of the governor’s proposed cuts. Beitzel remains more concerned about the governor’s plan to shift teacher pensions to the counties. Tax increases, and what they could mean, are also a major concern to Beitzel. Still, Beitzel remains concerned about the doomsday proposal.
“If you look at that (doomsday) budget, it indicates a big loss of funding for Allegany and Garrett counties,” Beitzel said.
“The flush tax proposed by the governor would hit every Marylander,” Beitzel said. The gas tax would hit rural residents especially hard, said Beitzel.
Garrett County would also be hit hard by the proposals. Garrett would lose $406,400 in supplemental disparity grants and $213,127 in regular disparity grants. Garrett would also lose $154,606 in police aid, $11,943 in library aid and $257,891 in per-pupil aid.
“That would be pretty devastating,” said Pagenhardt.
To make up the losses, Garrett commissioners could be faced with choosing deep cuts or a 4.3-cent tax increase on taxable real property to bring tax revenues to the same level as the last fiscal year.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
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