The Board of Carroll County Commissioners has proposed a 2-cent property tax increase. If approved, it would mark the first time county officials have raised property taxes since fiscal 1997, according to a county news release.
The county released its proposed $541.6 million operating budget for fiscal 2025 this week. The next fiscal year starts July 1. The proposed property tax is $1.038 per $100 of assessed value in fiscal 2025. The current rate is $1.018 per $100 of assessed value.
District 2 Commissioners’ President Ken Kiler said this is just a proposal and that the budget could change before it is slated for adoption on May 21.
“In our second year as a board, we made some tough decisions. With (creation of the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services) still being implemented and Blueprint (for Maryland’s Future) adding to costs to our school system, it was challenging,” Kiler said.
In March, commissioners were told the county faced a $12.4 million deficit in the fiscal 2025 operating budget. The all-Republican board spent the last several weeks meeting regularly to debate how best to deal with the shortfall.
To help eliminate the deficit, commissioners are also proposing an increase to the county’s recordation tax rate from $5 per $500 of assessed value to $6.50. The recordation tax is imposed by the state as compensation for registering the purchase or sale of property. The money is collected by the county where the transaction takes place.
The last time the county raised the recordation tax was in fiscal 2003, the county news release states.
Commissioners canceled plans last year to raise the county’s recordation tax rate to balance the fiscal 2024 budget, concerned that the purchase of a home would become unaffordable for residents.
Kiler said commissioners reduced funding to some departments and eliminated vacant staff positions to help balance the proposed budget.
The budget reduces funding to the Department of Fire and EMS by $2.8 million; reduces agricultural preservation funding by $2.5 million; eliminates 10 vacant county government positions; and reduces planned salary increases for commissioners, court employees and employees with the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office, from 5.5% to 4%.
“I’m glad we did not try to use one-time money to put a bandaid on the operating budget,” Kiler said. “That only creates problems in future years. Many past boards did that. We are still digging our way out of that hole.”
The county’s budget director Ted Zaleski will host community meetings at 7 p.m. Monday at Exploration Commons in Westminster, and again at 7 p.m. Tuesday, at the Taneytown Library, and at 7 p.m. Wednesday, at the North Carroll Library, to discuss the budget.
A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m., May 6, at the Carroll Arts Center, 91 W. Main St., in Westminster. Additional budget work sessions are tentatively scheduled for May 14 and 16.