Here’s what you can expect when Carroll County’s 2025 budget goes into effect next month
When commissioners officially approved Carroll County’s $545 million operating budget late last month, they included a host of changes for county residents. Included is a 4% increase in water and sewer rates, starting July 1.
The rate increase for fiscal 2025 received unanimous approval from officials. The commissioners passed a 10% hike in the same rates about one year ago.
The increases are intended to pay for repairs to aging infrastructure, to implement water conservation measures and to fund the rising costs of providing water and sewer to about 26,000 customers in the county.
Commissioners’ President Ken Kiler, of District 2, said the upgrades were necessary and county residents would have to pay for them one way or another.
During this budget cycle commissioners opted not to increase the county’s property tax rate, so it will stay at $1.018 per $100 of assessed value. In March, officials had proposed increasing the rate by 2 cents, which would have been the first increase in many years.
The average water and sewer customer uses 12,000 gallons per quarter and currently pays $306.43 per quarter for both water and sewer service. With the 4% increase the average customer’s quarterly bill will increase to $318.32.
The county’s operating budget includes funding for public schools, the sheriff’s office, fire and emergency medical services, roads, nonprofit agencies, parks, technology and reserves. Commissioners spent weeks figuring out how to balance revenue with expenditures after being told the county faced a $12.4 million deficit in the coming fiscal year.
Commissioners took $5.8 million out of the county’s savings to balance the budget.
The bulk of the county’s operating budget (42.06%) goes to Carroll County Public Schools. In fiscal 2025, the school system is slated to receive a total of $13 million more than the current budget. The school system received $238,651,000 in county contributions this year and is slated to get $253,130,930 in fiscal 2025, according to budget documents.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office will receive about $2 million more next fiscal year — $35,218,810 in fiscal 2025, up from $33,258,250 in fiscal 2024.
The Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office will receive about $300,000 more next year, going from $5,309,500 in fiscal 2024 to $5,685,260 in fiscal 2025.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services will receive a total of $8,246,570 in fiscal 2025, about $700,000 more than this year, for fire and EMS administration. The department is also slated to receive $19,718,180 in new funding marked for onboarding and funding new positions, including a new deputy chief of operations. That is up from $13,468,740 that the department received in the current budget.
With budget restraints, some local nonprofits had their county funding reduced. Access Carroll is slated to receive $33,000 in fiscal 2025, down from $58,700 in fiscal 2024. The ARC of Carroll County is slated for $237,380 in 2025, down from $287,380 this year.