Carroll commissioners increased spending 7 percent in a $353 million operating budget that includes no tax increases.
Commissioners went into budget deliberationsin April acutely aware they would be working with a lean budget and would not have the luxury of adding much.
A soft economy, coupled with the state?s decision to make record tax increases while cutting county funds, made this year one of the most difficult for Budget Director Ted Zaleski.
“Every year has its problems to work through,” Zaleski said. “This was a difficult one because of uncertainties both with what was happening with the state and what was happening with the economy.”
Commissioners adopted a total budget, including the capital budget, of $545 million, about 7.5 percent less than this year?s $589 million.
The property tax rate will remain at $1.048 per every $100 of assessed value ? a rate that has not increased in 13 years, officials said.
The state?s assessments, however, are expected to rise, increasing the amount of taxes residents will pay.
Several outraged residents implored commissioners at a public hearing recently to lower the tax rate to offset a rise in assessments.
Dozens of teachers demanded bigger raises, but the only change commissioners made in the plan proposed by the budget department took $400,000 from a fund reserved for unforeseen costs ? such as increased winter snow removal ? and used it to upgrade computer software for the school system.
After the change, the county has $10.2 million in its reserve fund, Zaleski said.
That money, he said, would have to be used for a one-time project, and the majority is expected to go untouched.
