The Anne Arundel County Council unanimously approved Tuesday the county's $1.18 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year, keeping intact most recommendations by County Executive John R. Leopold, including furlough days for most county employees.
The budget reduced spending by $6.5 million over last year, and cuts pay to almost all county employees by about 5 percent, in the form of 12 furlough days.
"This was a very difficult budget that required hard choices, but I am confident that our county will rebound from the troubled economic times of the last two years," said Leopold, who praised the council for approving "99.5 percent of the priorities recommended by the administration."
While the council largely followed Leopold's recommendations, it eliminated plans for a cyber-lab at Anne Arundel Community College.
The council increased funding levels for the county Board of Education, which had decried Leopold's proposed cuts. The cuts had included no funds for textbooks and the elimination of school construction projects already in progress.
The board restored $1.5 million of the $6 million in funding eliminated for textbooks. It also restored the capital budget funding by $10 million, allowing construction projects at several schools to go forward.
Bob Mosier, a spokesman for schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell, praised the council for restoring some of the funding.