Allegany County staff present $159.3M budget, water and sewer rates include 2.9% average increase

The Board of County Commissioners of Allegany County, Maryland, reviewed a proposed $159,300,000 fiscal budget that county staff recommended the board adopt, the chair said at the meeting.

The chair outlined the package to include the primary budget resolution, the main property tax levy and a separate levy covering special taxing areas such as fire and lighting districts. Staff also asked the board to approve the county’s capital improvement program and several current‑year budget amendments the board received in a prior work session.

County staff noted that the water and sewer rate proposal reflects an average 2.9% increase, a change staff said would apply systemwide but excludes Bel Air, which was held at last year’s rates. Brent and other staff who prepared the rates were identified as having presented the calculation.

The agenda also included routine procurement items: staff said bids for fuel, stone and asphalt for FY27 road operations were issued and that procurement for the Pad Side parking/business park development will open next week with an anticipated award on the following meeting so contracts may begin July 1. The chair also presented a consent agenda travel request for Chrissy Ujick, director of Jane’s Place, to attend a June conference in New Orleans.

No formal adoption votes for the budget package were recorded in the public discussion captured in this transcript; staff asked the board to take action to adopt the budget and levies as the meeting moved into subsequent agenda items.

The board later moved into a closed session to begin collective bargaining negotiations, a procedural step that does not, in itself, adopt the budget items discussed earlier.