This is part 2 of looking at items in the Carroll County Government FY25 Proposed Budget. You can find information from Part 1 (Tax Increases and General Fund Expenses) HERE. As mentioned previously the proposed budget document released on April 26th is 148 pages (view it HERE) and there is a lot of information to read through to learn about what has been proposed. There is one items I will focus on for this article: Growth in the number of County Government Employees.
Growth in the number of County Government Employees:
We hear a lot of recurring funds vs one time funds (well, if you listen to the budget meetings held in Carroll County). We know that one of the largest drivers of recurring funds use/expense is the cost of County Government funded FTEs (Full Time Equivalent staff – full time, part time or other employees). Here is a look at the last four budget cycle FTEs for Carroll County Government:
- FY22: 1,132.83
- FY23: 1,186.80
- FY24: 1,271.67
- FY25: 1,327.49
So if you start from FY22 to what is proposed today you see a growth of nearly 200 FTEs (194.66 to be precise) paid for with County Government “recurring” funding. If you dig a little deeper you will see that the vast majority of the growth is within the Fire Services Department (which has grown from 52.43 FTEs in FY22 to 215.00 in FY25).
Since the start of implementing Fire Services into the County Budget back in FY21 no new funding sources had been identified to pay for the significant expenses to cover the cost of these services (which is now more than $32,000,000 in the proposed FY25 budget). Commissioner Ed Rothstein admitted this as an issue recently during a budget Work Session – see in this video:
Given this information it does beg the question of how much larger will Fire Services grow in the future in the County Budget? Also, will the current proposal of tax increases (see previous post) cover the anticipated future growth of this department or planned growth within other departments in the county? If the tax increases now do not cover future costs – what is the plan? More tax increases to cover ever growing expenses or other plans we just do not know about yet? These all seem reasonable questions for our elected officials.
Now this article only covers a small part of the 140+ page proposed budget for residents to review. No question in my mind that someone within County Government will tell you that it is all more complicated than described in this article. I would not argue that point and would recommend each reader do their own research and ask questions throughout this process.
There are three additional scheduled “Roadshow” presentations of the proposed budget for residents on the calendar:
- Proposed Budget Roadshow Exploration Commons in Westminster- April 29, 2024
- Proposed Budget Roadshow Taneytown Library- April 30, 2024
- Proposed Budget Roadshow Hampstead Library- May 1, 2024
There is also the upcoming Public Hearing on the FY25 Proposed Budget scheduled for May 6, 2024. This would be your opportunity to address the Commissioners and let them know your thoughts about the FY25 proposed budget. You can also email Commissioners your thoughts here:
mguerin@carrollcountymd.gov
erothstein@carrollcountymd.gov
jvigliotti@carrollcountymd.gov
kkiler@carrollcountymd.gov
tgordon@carrollcountymd.gov
You can find the Carroll County Observer on these social media platforms:
- https://facebook.com/CarrollObserver
- https://tiktok.com/@carrollobserver
- https://twitter.com/CarrollObserver
- https://instagram.com/carrollobserver/
- https://youtube.com/@carrollobserver
- https://truthsocial.com/@carrollobserver
- https://rumble.com/c/c-4218154
Now that the public sees what the cost of emergency services(Fire Department) is going to be, and in the future with less volunteers giving them free services, maybe now they can appreciate what the volunteers provided in the past. I did it myself for over 50 years with very few and little thank yous from the public.