FY26 Budget Process Begins
Originally Published: November 12, 2024
Commissioners to Review CIPs
Vanetta Van Cleave, the Chief Finance Officer for St. Mary’s County, kicked off the FY26 budget process on November 5th, her first since being hired earlier this year. Van Cleave presented the FY26 budget calendar to the Commissioners at their November 5th meeting, along with drafted budget instructions for county department heads and elected officials. Those instructions included directives, supported by the Commissioners, requesting no new initiatives, no reclassification requests for employees (preferred through HR), and limiting requests for non-recurring items like furniture and equipment. Department directors should make efforts to pay for non-recurring items through “savings in [the] current year budget,” according to Van Cleave’s memo.
Procedures in the memo also outlined how to submit requests for certain, specific needs. Technology requests across all departments, for example, are sent to, and included with, the IT Department’s budget. Similarly, vehicle requests are submitted to the Dept. of Public Works & Transportation (DPWT). Finance is also requesting a “justification for an account where the prior years have a zero spend,” to help identify what previous requests may not actually have been needed.
Commissioner Colvin said his priorities included repealing the energy tax, something Commissioner Hewitt has advocated towards for several years. Colvin also recognized “prior year commitments” like the county employee salary increase spread over three years, improved Length Of Service Award Program (LOSAP) benefits, and making EMT salaries competitive with neighboring counties. All Commissioners seemed to be in agreement about not raising taxes this year.
Any cost changes must be captured on an Essential Cost Changes (ECC) form, outlining the request with details about financial and operational impacts to the budget. Cost changes include things like adding a position, increasing or decreasing a Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budget, or purchase of new equipment. During the review of the ECCs, the Commissioners will assess whether or not to approve the items if funding is available.
In February 2024, I reported on the funding transferred from three Recreation & Parks CIPs and used to purchase Willows Recreation Center (WRC). The county purchased WRC for $4.7M. Of that, $2.5M was moved from the Shannon Farms project (RP-1905), $100K from the Great Mills Property Master Plan (RP-2001), and $320K from the Central County Park plan (RP-2304). Funding for Shannon Farms was restored in FY25’s budget, but not for the Central County Park, proposed on Indian Bridge Rd. Originally, $350K in total funding was allocated to the project, and $30K should remain after the transfer for purchasing WRC. But no CIP sheet was included in the FY25 approved budget making the $30K seemingly unaccounted for.
Similarly, funding for the Great Mills Property Master Plan was unlisted in the final budget prior to being used for the WRC purchase. The CIP was listed in FY20, which was finalized in May 2019, for the purpose of updating the “master plan of a 5 acre section of a 19 acre property the County purchased in 2000 for active recreation use.” The project didn’t appear in the FY18 or FY19 budgets. After being listed in the budget for FY20, it was not shown in the approved budgets for FY21-24. The site, adjacent to Great Mills High School, will now be the home for the YMCA. Understandably, the funds are no longer needed to develop a plan. However, why was the funding absent across multiple budget years and documents?
The first Budget Work Session (BWS) is on November 19th, when the Commissioners will discuss specific CIPs, review the county’s debt capacity, and provide direction on what projects to include, amend, or leave out. CIPs can tie up millions of dollars in bond funding, driving up the county’s debt ratio. The Commissioners request bond authority through the General Assembly each year in anticipation of needing to fund future CIPs. But, just because funding is assigned to a project doesn’t mean it can’t be removed. There’s also an opportunity to hold funding for other future use in CIPs, as described above.
The Commissioners should thoroughly review any CIP, or other item, with funding attached. Those projects, if funding remains allocated, should be represented in the final budget. Funding that isn’t needed could help reduce this year’s $94M bond authority request.
Important budget dates to remember are:
BWS’s: 11/19, 12/10, 2/11, 2/25, 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 5/6, and 5/13
Budget Public Forum: 4/22/25, Leonardtown High School
