Howard County's schools represent the county's single largest expense, but the $1.56 billion budget proposed by County Executive Ken Ulman gives the County Council virtually no chance to either cut or add money to the school board's request for more than one-third of that money.
That's because Ulman proposed giving the board its full request of $512.6 million in locally raised revenue, which also represents just enough to satisfy the state law that requires counties to maintain per-student spending levels or risk a major loss of state funds.
The board's full request, including federal and state grants and other funds, totals $681.2 million. Of that, $467.6 million comes from local tax revenue for classroom expenses, while another $45 million goes for debt interest and future retiree benefits. The money will also pay for 43 new teachers to serve a growing enrollment.
"I'm very pleased that the county is supporting the school budget," school board Chairwoman Janet Siddiqui said.
School officials and the county's PTA council aren't complaining about the executive's proposal.
School system chief financial officer Ray Brown is hopeful that the council will keep the budget above the state funding requirement, but he remains cautious.
"That's good," Brown said, "but that's not necessarily a free ride," because there's always the chance that the council could cut the budget and risk the consequences.
"There will be some discussion" with the council members, he said. School board and teachers' union negotiators are still in talks over whether teachers would see a raise next fiscal year.
John Hannay, president of the PTA Council, said his group is also satisfied, given the economy. "I think they did what they can do," he said of the school board.
County Council Chairman Calvin Ball, an east Columbia Democrat, said that while he agrees that "education is a top priority," nobody will get a free pass.
"We will carefully review the budget and listen to the community," he said. The council has until June 1 to adopt a spending plan for the fiscal year that starts a month later. The council will hold a public hearing on most elements of the operating budget on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers. A hearing on schools, community college and libraries is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 7.
Ulman's overall budget is 8.8 percent higher, but the total general fund budget — composed of money raised mainly through local taxes, fines and fees — is $870.8 million, a 5.6 percent increase. He credits cost-cutting in previous years for the slightly brighter picture in fiscal 2012.
"The reason we're able to be cautiously optimistic about the future is that we were able to clamp down on spending and hold positions vacant" in past years, Ulman said. He added that 68 vacant jobs will remain frozen, and the county is still benefiting from cooperation with the school board that has saved more than $17 million a year.
Most of the added spending would go to fixed costs the county doesn't control, like fuel and energy prices, health insurance and debt interest, pension costs and mandated state payments, officials said. Howard residents will have to pay 9 percent more for Baltimore City-supplied water and sewer services, and county hotel room taxes will increase from 5 percent to 7 percent to add funds for tourism and economic development programs.
With no employee cost-of-living pay raises and no proposed general tax increases, the council might have a hard time finding things to alter in what budget director Raymond S. Wacks called "a continuation of services budget with a few targeted increases." County police would get a 2 percent pay raise, but the money for that will come from funds already used to pay officers extra who work late shifts.
A slightly improved economy produced $26.5 million more money from income taxes, a larger surplus that allowed $3.5 million to go into a fund to help pay for future retirees health benefits and $10 million in cash for capital budget projects. Still overall property tax receipts are down slightly, because of falling home values.
The county intends to spend $1.2 million more to staff the new, much larger Miller branch library in Ellicott City due to open this year. Also opening during the year is a large new community center in North Laurel and the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia. Another $942,000 will go to boost housing programs, half of which would help middle-income families who can't afford closing costs.
County workers also won't face being furloughed without pay for the first time in three years."Certainly that's a welcome event to our members," said Dale Chase, president of AFSCME Local 3065, which represents about 250 relatively low-wage county workers. Chase said his members appreciate not seeing their share of health insurance premiums go up, too.
"When you look at all the pieces, it's another lean year," he said, but dropping the unpaid leave is a big help, especially given rising prices for gasoline and food.
The lack of expensive new programs is serving to highlight the smaller spending moves Ulman is making, like continued funding of his Healthy Howard program for uninsured county residents, which costs the county $500,000 a year. In addition, he's adding relatively small amounts for programs affecting the environment, Howard Community College, the arts and nonprofits that help people in crisis.
The county arts council will get $200,000 more if the council agrees, and Ulman wants to hire a "storm-water czar" as part of his effort to boost environmental programs that protect the Chesapeake Bay. Ulman said he also wants the county to "mine" the Alpha ridge landfill to remove recyclable items and cut trash volume, while he also plans to have monthly bulk-trash pickups in county neighborhoods.
Coleen West, executive director of the arts council, said the extra money is needed. "Local groups really suffered from the recession," West said, as endowments, corporate gifts and ticket sales all dropped off at the same time. "We really needed some sort of stabilizing factor" for events like the Columbia Festival of the Arts and up to 50 local and regional arts groups who receive grants..
Nonprofits who help the poor and those in crisis would also benefit by $385,000, and the mobile crisis team could expand operations to weekends.
Another $755,000 will go to boost Howard Community College. Though small, the amount is important, said college President Kate Hetherington, because it is the first increase in three years. A small boost in state funding will limit next fall's tuition increase to $3 a credit instead of $4, and the county money will allow hiring of 16 more full-time faculty members at the growing college. That will help boost the proportion of full-time faculty, which now varies from 37 percent to 40 percent, far below the 50 percent national standard for two-year schools.
"We're grateful to get an increase from the county, " Hetherington said. "This will help us move the ratio up."