The St. Mary’s County Commissioners will take to public hearing a $212 million budget for the next fiscal year that contains almost $4 million increase in the undesignated fund balance (surplus). The budget increases the sheriff’s and library budgets by five percent over the current fiscal year but only three percent for the schools.
The schools will be getting $2.6 million more, less than the amount needed to fund the negotiated agreements with two of the three bargaining units. The Board of Education had requested more than $6 million more.
The votes on the school board and sheriff’s increases at a Tuesday work session were each 3-2, with Commissioner President Francis “Jack” Russell the swing vote for the sheriff and against also giving the schools five percent more.
Commissioners Cynthia Jones (R: 1st) and Daniel Morris (R: 2nd) favored a no more than three percent increase across the board. Jones responded to Commissioner Todd Morgan’s observation about the size of the county’s surplus, “I am glad we are to the good but we might be budgeting with more than one year in mind.”
The Sequester was on the minds of all of the commissioners in making the preliminary budget decision. Morgan said furloughs would happen next month for government employees and contractors would likely fall in line.
The commissioners however disagreed about the effect of the Sequester on the budget. Commissioner Lawrence Jarboe (R: 3rd) predicted that the public school system would bulge with parents taking their children out of private schools because they couldn’t afford it. Jones on the other hand predicted that people affected by the Sequester would be leaving the county because they couldn’t afford to live here, thus lowering the school population.
The commissioners agreed to cut the sheriff’s request for four new patrol deputies, four station clerks and several other positions. They also reduced from four to two the number of new School Resource Officers. The two would give full coverage for the middle and high schools. The commissioners also cut in half the number of promotions the sheriff can give.
Commissioner Morris is pressing for the security in the elementary and middle schools to be provided by the school system and not the sheriff. He favors using retired officers instead, at a savings both in salary and the need to supply a vehicle.
Morgan said he was unclear about the need for someone with full law enforcement powers in the schools. Jones supports a task force to review all of the angles of the school security issue. Russell says there is already a group meeting to discuss the issue.
