Tax Increases, Pay Bump For Employees Are Highlights Of County Budget

When the Anne Arundel County Council passed the Fiscal Year 2024 budget on June 14, by a vote of 6-1, the councilmembers agreed that despite their differences, the process was more collaborative than in past years.

The outcome was a budget that will raise pay for educators, make investments in public safety and parks, and fund other priorities.

Some of that money will come from increasing the income tax rate for about 2% of county residents. Single filers who earn above $400,000 and joint filers making over $480,000 will now pay a rate close to 3% instead of the current rate, which is 2.7% for the first $50,000 of income and 2.8% for the rest. Also, the property tax rate for all homeowners will increase by 4.7 cents per $100 of value. Other tax hikes include the hotel tax (7% to 8%) and a new rideshare fee (25 cents per trip originating in Anne Arundel County).

With the additional revenue, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) employees will see an 8% pay increase, with substitutes getting a raise of $5 per day, and special educators receiving a $2,000 bonus. Contracted bus drivers are set to earn a 10% cost-of-living-adjustment increase. Starting teacher salaries will jump to $58,161 to entice new employees to fill vacancies.

District 7 councilmember Shannon Leadbetter, the only person to vote against the budget, praised the work of everyone involved in the budget process who worked to find common ground, but she expressed her belief that the county could raise employee pay without increasing taxes.

“The fact is, when you’re paying 30 to 40% more for your groceries than you did two years ago and now facing a 47-cent-per-gallon gas tax that’s going to be hitting in July, quite honestly it hurts,” she said. “And that really weighs heavily how this increased cost of living is going to come to bear.”

As Leadbetter and others noted, educators are not the only beneficiaries of the budget. The funds will jumpstart several capital projects including a joint 911 operations center, new Cape St. Claire and Jessup fire stations, and a police special operations facility and real-time fusion center. Several public safety departments will get new positions, with the budget allocating funds for 18 new firefighters, 23 additional police officers and a new captain for the Sheriff's Office of Professional Standards.

As for local projects, Arnold Senior Center will get $4.1 million for additional classrooms, a fitness area, and a building expansion to meet the needs of growing membership and programming offered at the center. A $4.5 million investment in Millersville Park will go toward new ball fields and other amenities.

Amanda Fiedler, who represents Severna Park and the Broadneck peninsula as a councilwoman for District 5, voted for the budget but against tax increases. She explained her reasoning in a column for the Severna Park Voice (read the full article in the politics section of this edition).

“In this budget process, I supported amendments that could have lowered the tax rate but still allowed the county to increase pay packages for county employees, and hire more teachers, firefighters and police officers,” she said.

She later added, “After serious thought and consideration, I supported the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, while rejecting increased tax burdens on families, because I believe that I could not throw out the baby with the bathwater.”

Many other upgrades for the environment, transportation, housing, and human services are also on the books with the budget being adopted.

“The process that led to passage of this budget was collaborative, nonpartisan and driven by shared values,” Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman wrote in a statement. “The final product sets our county up for future economic challenges, while investing in our children, our families, our environment and the local institutions that deliver essential services. I want to thank the council, the auditor and my budget team for a job well done.”

For more details on the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, visit www.aacounty.org/fy24budget.