The Garrett County commissioners unanimously approved the county's Fiscal Year 2013 budget and related tax rates on Tuesday afternoon. About 25 local residents and county employees gathered in the commissioners' public meeting room at the courthouse to hear the budget announcement.
At $73,441,985, the new budget is $13.2 million less than FY 2012's, but the real property tax rate will remain at $.99 per $100 of assessed value in FY '13. The new fiscal year begins on July 1.
"We talked about tax increases," commission chair Jim Raley said about the months-long budget development process. "We talked about how to meet the needs, and the nice part is that we were able to do that [by] keeping the tax rate at the same rate and not going with the constant yield."
The commissioners note in the new budget document message, however, that county officials faced many challenges during the development process, including a reduction in state allocations and a decline of $2 million in assessable property values and revenue. Raley indicated that more revenue losses are expected for FY '14.
"The 2013 budget really does meet our needs, but I think we all know there are still some unmet needs in there, obviously the CARC (Community Aquatic and Recreation Complex), the library, and . . . other requests that come in after the year starts," Raley said.
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He indicated that county officials and residents need to immediately plan for "tomorrow" by developing ways to grow the county's population and job opportunities.
"It's a must; we can't wait," Raley said. "I want us to think about the kinds of things that have somewhat separated us . . . because some of those are the very issues that are debatable as to whether they will grow our economy."
That includes Marcellus shale natural gas drilling and wind turbines, Raley said.
Commissioner Bob Gatto expressed his appreciation to county staff and residents for their help in developing the new budget.
"I appreciate the trust and respect that all of you have given us during this process and also appreciate your continuing input and support that you provide as we move forward," he said. "We remain creative in our thinking and our investment of your dollars. That process will continue in time as the dollars become less and the demands more. But with your help we're up to the challenge."
Commissioner Gregan Crawford noted some budgetary accomplishments.
"I have no doubt that we're viewed by many jurisdictions throughout the state with awe and envy for what we do here," Crawford said. "We've held the line on taxes for this year. We fully funded the Board of Education. We've incurred no debt service. We have attritioned five more employees this year. And we continue to fulfill our mission."
At $32 million, the largest allocation in the FY '13 budget is for education. This is nearly $1.4 million more than the FY '12 allocation.
In the new fiscal year, $26 million will go to the Board of Education, including $664,714 to fund the teacher pension obligations, which was offset by a like amount from the state. About $4.5 million will go to Garrett College, $982,700 to the Ruth Enlow Library, and $450,00 to the Garrett County Scholarship Program. Garrett College will also receive an additional $250,000 for CARC operations.
Public works makes up 22.64 percent of allocations in the budget. The Roads Department will receive about $16.2 million, which is $434,000 less than the FY '12 allocation. The department will use $2.3 million of its FY '13 allocation for paving projects. Management will prioritize all road improvement and maintenance projects. Capital funds have been allocated to purchase a variety of equipment.
Public safety divisions, offices, and agencies will receive nearly $9 million, which is about $134,000 less than they received in 2012. The sheriff's office and detention center will receive about $4.4 million, with the remainder of the allocation going to the Permits and Inspections Division, volunteer fire and require units, animal control, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management, 911 communications, and emergency medical services.
General government will receive more than $6.6 million, which is $121,133 less than was allocated for FY '12. The funds will go to county administrative offices, the commissioners' office, the maintenance of governmental owned facilities, and information technology efforts. The new budget contains no employee pay increases, excluding unionized county road workers.
To help fund its debt service, the Adventure Sports Center will receive $100,000 of the county's hotel/motel tax revenue. The commissioners recently increased the hotel/motel tax from 5 to 6 percent to generate an additional $300,000 in the new fiscal year. The total expected revenue from this tax is expected to be $1.9 million in 2013.
In addition to ASCI, the tax revenue will be distributed to the Department of Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce, Deep Creek 2014, county trails, the development of countywide broadband infrastructure, municipal governments, parks, recreation, and culture.
The FY '13 budget is available online at garrettcounty.org. Approved supplemental levies for 13 Garrett County sanitary districts as well as real property and public utilities taxes for Mtn. Lake Park and other areas area also listed in the document.
The commissioners' next public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 26, at 9 a.m.
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