Westminster, MD, Tuesday, March 10, 2020 – This morning, Mr. Ted Zaleski, Director of Management and Budget, presented the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Overview to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners (BOC).

The FY21 Budget Overview is derived from hundreds of staff hours during which staff review prior budgets, meet with agency and department leaders, follow trends in the real estate market, income taxes, recordation and filing fees and a whole host of other activities to ensure that the recommended budget is based on the best, most accurate and up-to-date information possibly available.

Mr. Zaleski’s presentation led with three core messages for this year’s budget cycle: although the details have changed, the county’s situation remains fundamentally the same, growing but growing slowly; limited flexibility heightens the importance of every  budget decision; and pressures continue to grow on the county’s ability to maintain service levels. Mr. Zaleski then revealed a thorough and detailed presentation of the FY2021 budget. The entire Budget Overview presentation is available on the county website.

Throughout March, April and May, a series of budget meetings will be held in order to develop and adopt the final budget.  On March 24th, the Recommended Budget will be presented to the BOC.  Then the board will meet with any agency requesting funding that wasn't included in the Recommended Budget.   Below is the list of meetings as they are currently scheduled:      

Agency Meetings with Commissioners

Thursday, March 26th

Tuesday, March 31st

Thursday, April 2nd

After the commissioners meet with agencies, the board will begin discussing the budget options amongst themselves to create a proposed budget.  The Proposed Budget Work Sessions will begin on April 7th. 

Once the Proposed Budget is agreed upon by a majority of the commissioners, a Proposed Budget News Conference will be held.  The news conference is currently scheduled for Tuesday, April 28th.

Mr. Ted Zaleski will then hold a series of community meetings to review and explain the Proposed Budget.  These meetings are currently scheduled as follows:

Budget Community Presentations:

Tuesday, April 28th                 7:00 pm                      Taneytown Library

Wednesday, April 29th           7:00 pm                      North Carroll Library

Thursday, April 30th               7:00 pm                      Eldersburg Library

Monday, May 4th                    7:00 pm                      Westminster Library

Monday, May 11th                 7:00 pm                      Mount Airy Library

 

The Community Meetings are followed by a Budget Public Hearing which is scheduled on Tuesday, May 12th at 7:00 pm at the Carroll Community College, Scott Center Auditorium.

Additional Budget Work Sessions may be held by the commissioners to make any modifications to the proposed budget based on the information received during the Budget Public Hearing.  These work sessions are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 19th and Thursday, May 21st.

The FY2021 budget adoption is planned for Tuesday, May 26th.

These sessions are open to the public, will be televised on Channel 24 and streamed live on the county website.  All meetings will be held in the County Office Building, 225 N. Center Street, Westminster, MD 21157, unless otherwise noted.  Meeting times and places are subject to change, so please check the county website or call 410-386-2400 to confirm.

Open session is available for viewing on the county meeting portal and the county YouTube channel. In addition, all meetings will be replayed on Comcast Channel 24.

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