Comments on: Cecil County Drafts $169 Million Budget; Schools Get “Flat” Funds; Property Tax Rate at “Constant Yield”

By: Jackie Gregory

Jackie Gregory — Sat, 05 May 2012 23:07:20 +0000

Besides the $2.4 million expense for teacher pensions that will be given to us by the state, the expansion of the detention center has created a need to hire more correctional officers, increasing the costs in the public safety budget.

In addition, Cecil College has requested an additional $6.5 million in construction costs over last year’s budget request to pay for a new science and technology center. I have been told that the overall project amounts to approximately $25 million, with state funds accounting for 2/3 of the cost. The proposed budget allocates approximately 7 million local dollars towards the project for 2013 and over $700k for FY 2014. Parks and recreation has a significantly higher budget (over 400k) from last year due to land acquisition and renovations. I don’t know the details of that request.

Hopefully, the commissioners will take another hard look at the budget, prioritize spending, and shift spending from less essential functions of government to its more necessary functions.

By: Russ

Russ — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:55:54 +0000

They are part of the problem if we can do the job with 500 employees rather than 620 employees. That however is not even being looked at.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:45:38 +0000

I agree. Look at the budget and pay attention to lines which are in double digits increases. Ask why, there may be good explanations for some but not for all. Any increase that exceeds 3% should be questioned and explained, especially in these tough economic times. Taxpayer were told during times of plenty that their taxes were going up because the assessments were increasing; now in bad times, the assessments are dropping but the tax rate is increasing. If money was saved or put aside when times were better, then the rates could be held down now instead of being raised on struggling taxpayers. I have not seen the foreclosures slowing down in paper. Yes, unfunded mandates are playing a role in this budget. There is a lot of explaining needed when you look at this budget.