Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND — Garrett County’s fiscal 2011 budget will drop by more than $16 million from the previous year’s, a decline that county officials blamed largely on state funding reductions and economic hard times.
The County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to set the new operating and capital budget at $67.9 million. The fiscal 2010 amended budget totaled about $84 million.
The budget goes into effect on July 1.
The $16 million reduction comprises few major cuts in county services or basic agency funding, but includes little funding for capital projects.
“Basically the only capital we have for next year is some renovations to the county jail,” said County Administrator Monty Pagenhardt. “A lot of those repairs and maintenance and safety issues were put on hold because at one time we thought we were going to build a new detention center.”
The capital outlay for the detention center work was set at $263,000.
The county could also see a reduction in the number of its employees, though officials emphasized that no jobs have actually been cut.
Eighteen county employees are currently expected to retire, and the county has no plans to fill those positions, Pagenhardt said.
The county also will not fund any of its OPEB obligation in fiscal 2011. Those monies are to be set aside annually to provide for public employees’ future retirement health benefits.
Pagenhardt said the planning process for the fiscal 2011 budget began two years ago, when the county realized it would be facing shortfalls and reductions in available revenue.
“The primary objective that we’ve talked about since August of two years ago was maintaining quality of services,” he said, adding, “To my knowledge, we’re the only county that hasn’t reduced its work force, hasn’t had furloughs, and hasn’t reduced hours.”
Commissioner Fred Holliday thanked the county roads employees for agreeing in April to delay their contractual pay raises for one year, a move that freed up funds to cover other budgetary needs.
“The road workers, as with all the employees, they came to the table and helped us, and that means a lot whenever those folks do that,” he said.
Commission Chairman Ernie Gregg called it a “very responsible budget.”
“I wish we could have reduced the tax rate,” Gregg said. “But we do have a responsibility to provide basic services to our constituency.”
Property tax rates will remain the same as in fiscal 2010. The rates, which include the fire tax levy and landfill bond tax, were set at $0.942 for Mountain Lake Park and $0.990 for all other areas of the county, per $100 assessed value.
Those rates will generate an additional $2 million in property tax revenue in fiscal 2011, since the county’s assessable tax base is estimated to increase by about 5 percent over the previous year.
The public utilities tax rates were set at $2.355 for Mountain Lake Park and $2.475 for all other areas, per $100 assessed value.
The budget will be available online at www.garrettcounty.org
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