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my name is Alan McCarthy and I would
like to welcome everyone here tonight

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for a public citizens input on the
annual operating capital budgets here in

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Cecil County it is important to me that
I hear your comments your suggestions

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and your priorities at the early stage
of the budget process for 2021 your

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suggestions will be incorporated
whenever possible into the new budget

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which will be submitted at a County
Council for consideration on April 1st

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of this year in advance of hearing your
concerns our budget manager Miss Becky

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Anderson will present some preliminary
information including financial data

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relating to years physical budgeting
process I am certain that you will find

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her comments very interesting I
appreciate and thank you for being here

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tonight and I'll now turn it over to
Becky thank you dr. McCarthy good

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evening I would like to start off this
year's presentation by reviewing where

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we last left the budget conversation
with the approval of the FY 2020 budget

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the FY 2020 budget will impact how we
review and evaluate what will continue

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to be funded and where there's room for
improvement that is why we invited you

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here today to take part in the formation
of the FY 2021 budget so know so in

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order to get an idea of exactly what
we're working with I'm asking do you

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know what the total amount of the FY
2020 general fund budget was the general

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fund budget was approximately two
hundred and two million eight hundred

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fifteen thousand which was an increase
over 3.8 percent over the prior years

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approved budget so let's review how the
county budgeted 202 million dollars how

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much of the FY 2020 budget was allocated
for the educational needs of our

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citizens 103 million seven hundred
ninety four thousand which includes

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funding for pre-k K through 12 education
Cecil College and the Public Library

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System over half 51 percent of the
budget goes to direct allocations to aid

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in educating Cecil County citizens the
level to which these entities are funded

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includes a minimum threshold
determined by the state that must be met

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with county revenues how much of the FY
2020 budget was allocated to protecting

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our citizens 20 percent or forty million
seven hundred sixteen thousand was

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budgeted to address public safety
concerns in Cecil County this includes

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everything from deputies on the street
to animal enforcement officers how much

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of the FY 2020 budget was allocated to
pay for death that was to help build new

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County schools libraries bridges
communication systems and other capital

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improvement projects a little over 16
million or eight percent as capital

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projects are approved and construction
begins the county has to borrow the

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funds to meet the capital demands of our
county once borrowed the loan is

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normally paid back over 20 years I hope
you're taking notes as we go along and

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keeping track of how much of our pie is
left and thinking about the budget items

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you may be here tonight to support and
where they fit in the county budget how

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much of the FY 2020 budget was needed to
fund the county portion of state

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regulated functions that often the
county does not have the discretion on

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how to fund and at what level a little
over 11 million dollars or 6% of the

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county's general fund operating budget
has to support state regulated items

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such as a circuit court system the
office of the state's attorney and the

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Board of Elections
often times the state set salary and

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fringe limits for some of those
personnel employed by these offices that

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the county has little room to negotiate
or change the budget has to support

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whatever payment is due to support the
service in our County have you been

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keeping track of the pie chart are you
thinking where are some of the items we

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have not even discussed like Public
Works Parks and Rec and where do they

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fit in the budget as you can see on this
slide 15 percent of the general fund

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operating budget consists of that entire
list of departments Public Works alone

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is 40 percent are a little over 12
million of the remaining slice of the

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Cecil County operating pie remember the
county roads division is responsible for

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the maintenance of all County bridges
and approximately 615 miles of roads as

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state support for roads infrastructure
continues to be minimal the county

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continues to face the chain
challenge to find greater efficiencies

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within this small group of departments
to make sure county roads are safe the

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rest of County's government functions
have to provide the needed services with

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the remaining budget available the
county executive has to make tough

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decisions in order to be certain there
is enough pie in each area to provide

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the services that County citizens need
now I'm not sure if you're asking

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yourself
but where does Cecil County get 202

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million dollars the number one revenue
source for Cecil County is real and

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personal property tax revenue in FY 2020
the county county is expecting to

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receive a little over a hundred eighteen
millions in property tax the current

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real property tax rate was set back in
FY 2018 at one point zero four one four

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per $100 of assessed property value the
county rate continues to be below the

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state average the rate has only been
increased one time in the last eight

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fiscal years as this administration
needed to address the declining county

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reserve fund and the underfunded
critical needs in our County such as

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deteriorating roads infrastructure and
public safety needs operating revenues

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meeting or exceeding current operating
expenditures was a priority that needed

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to be addressed as balancing the budget
with unassigned fund balance or this

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County savings account was a policy
decision that needed to be changed and

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it were to provide the fiscal stability
necessary for the future of Cecil County

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another question we often receive as why
has my real estate tax bill continued to

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increase if the tax rate has only
changed once in the last eight fiscal

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years the answer is simple the value of
your property has changed based on state

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assessments the State Department of
assessments performs evaluation of your

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property each county is divided into
tier groups and assessments occur every

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three years within a different tier if
your property tax bill is more your

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property is worth more the most recent
assessments and Cecil occurred in area

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two which can be seen in yellow on this
map the number two source of revenue in

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Cecil County is income tax a little over
63 million is anticipated to be received

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in FY 2020 from income tax today the
income tax rate has only increased once

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in the last 19 fiscal years
can be seen on this slide there are 12

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counties with an income tax rate higher
than that of Cecil County and eight

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counties have already met are at the
maximum rate allowed under Maryland

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state statute have you been keeping
track property and income tax account

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for ninety percent of the county's
revenue to provide all the funding

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necessary for education Public Safety
etc before we move on in the

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presentation for just a moment let's
stop and review fiscal responsibility

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from a couple different perspectives
the term deficit by definition is an

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amount by which a resource especially
money fall short of what is required a

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deficit occurs when expenses exceed
revenues the current federal deficit for

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FY 2019 was 984 billion dollars it's
estimated that it'll reach one trillion

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in FY 2020 a structural deficit by
definition is when a budget deficit

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persists for some time and eventually
pose a problem when budgeted revenues do

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not perform at a level to afford the
expenditures funded at the mandated

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levels the structural deficit outlook
for the state of Maryland according to

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the recent calculations put together by
the American Association of counties for

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the proposed FY 21 governor's budget is
37 million with large expenditure bills

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now being introduced and discussed in
Annapolis such as Kerwin and House bill

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1 school construction the deficit
outlook for Maryland will continue to

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grow the focus of the county executive
and the administration should be and

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always has been Cecil County Cecil
County curly does not have a deficit or

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a structural deficit in today's world
you should all realize this is a big

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deal
our county's approach to fiscal

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stability and the conservative spending
of county government have poised it for

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future fiscal success as long as we
continue to be cognizant that our

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spending has to be supported by what we
bring in in revenue the county savings

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account or fund balance is shown for the
past five years the fund balance has

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increased in recent years as the county
has witnessed new business investment

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and sound fiscal management and
enhancement to our reserve policy was

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passed to support this administration's
number-one goal

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fiscal stability as outlined in the
strategic plan in previous years when

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the county leadership saw dips in
revenues and increase in expenditures it

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became the normal strategy to use
unassigned fund balance to fill the gap

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instead of raising additional revenues
to meet the need

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although improvements to the reserves
have been accomplished the county still

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fall short of the national reserve
median of thirty four point two percent

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dr. McCarthy continues to be adamant
that we must face the reality of what

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the cost of doing business is and then
fund it without using the county savings

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account now let's move on to the FY 2021
budget the outline on the screen follows

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the budget development process as it is
specifically written in the county's

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Charter section 504 no later than April
1st the county executive shall prepare

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and submit a budget to Council for the
ensuing year based upon the rules we

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have developed this calendar to guide
the executive departments and outside

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agencies of key dates in order to meet
the budget deadline of no later than

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April 1st as you can see on this slide
dr. McCarthy's intention is that the FY

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2012 but 2021 budget will be submitted
to Council on April 1 the final approved

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budget must be passed by council on or
before June 15th or the budget reverts

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to the executives proposed budget the
budget for Cecil County is directly

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impacted by the state budget which is
being reviewed by the General Assembly

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the governor presents a proposed budget
much like that seen between the

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executive here and our county council
many of the county's revenue streams are

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directly affected by the decisions made
in Annapolis the state budget process

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presents a challenge for us as the
portions impacting Cecil County can

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change while we're building our own
budget we must constantly monitor the

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budget approval process in Annapolis and
adjust accordingly shown on the screen

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are some of the estimated impacts of the
governor's budget for 2021 I will

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highlight just a few of them
although the governor's budget seeks to

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fund highway user revenues formula for
maintenance of county roads the increase

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is estimated to just be a little over
46,000 dollars for FY 2012 2020 let's

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not lose sight of the fact that the
county used to receive over

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million dollars annually from the state
that went directly to roads maintenance

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the county continues to struggle to keep
up with the road maintenance needs which

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sucks with such little support from the
state there is a proposed increase in

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the county's disparity grant of 340 mm
this grant was enacted to help counties

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receiving less per capita income tax
revenues as compared to wealthier

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counties in Maryland
of course the governor's budget will

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continue to fund educate education
according to mandated funding formulas

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however especially here in Cecil County
we know the funding formulas continue to

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fall short of the need the next two
slides sum up what we feel are the

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realities as we put together the FY 2021
budget the county executive has already

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made the decision that he will not
support a property tax or income tax

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increase for the FY 2021 budget and
knowing that he will not allow us to use

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the unassigned fund balance to make up
any shortfalls it means this budget is

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tied to the estimating operating
revenues that we are estimating for FY

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2021
even though property assessments are up

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in area two by 9% this increase is
phased over a three-year period thus the

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increase is spread over the next three
fiscal years the possibility of a

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recession continues to be on the minds
of many economists as they try to figure

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out when it will hit before it happens
in the FY 2012 budget adding anything

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new is always risky if you believe your
revenue sources have the positive

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ability of being less in the
not-too-distant future there is

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increasing difficulty to build and
retain a quality workforce especially

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within the public safety sector we
continue to compete with other

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jurisdictions in the area to be the
employer of choice the substance abuse

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issue is a problem for our entire nation
trying to find meaningful solutions

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within our County will take efforts
across all of our respective communities

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to rewrite the script the reality is
that state funding formulas for public

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education continue to be inadequate to
meet the challenges schools face in our

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changing world the county becomes the
only source of additional support when

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the state passes down and
ever-increasing education burden on the

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county's Reese
sponsible growth in this county will

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require additional infrastructure to
compete having the necessary resources

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00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:35,090
in place will continue to attract new
investments and residents to our County

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the county is facing many challenges in
the upcoming fiscal year it's not an

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easy task to determine at what level
some of these most critical functions of

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the counties should be funded our
challenge is to craft a budget that will

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deliver in the most efficient and
effective manner the services Cecil

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County citizens expect and deserve while
preserving our strong fiscal position

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Thank You dr. McCarthy thank you very
much mrs. Anderson