(2/2024) It is that time of the year when the county needs to adopt a budget for the next fiscal year. Section 503 of the Frederick County Charter titled, Preparation of the County Budget, states," Not later than April 15 of each year, the County Executive shall prepare and submit a proposed budget to the County council for the ensuing fiscal year."
Article 5 of the County Charter then goes further in explaining the annual county process for the budget and the County Council’s role in that process. We ultimately have to approve the final budget.
The County Council has set the fiscal year 2025 budget public hearing for Tuesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. in Winchester Hall. This is your opportunity to come in person and state your budget priorities.
Adoption of the annual County budget is one of the most important actions that the County Vouncil take. This budget document is the County’s fiscal and action for the entire year. The County Executive submits a proposed budget on her spending priorities and the Council then weighs in on where to appropriate or spend the money.
This is your money. As the taxpayers of the County, you are the bosses of both the County Executive and the County Council. We are stewards of your money, and our spending priorities should also be your spending priorities.
It is imperative that you attend, call, write or email the elected leadership of Frederick County to make your concerns heard on how and where your tax dollars are spent! We do want to hear from you.
The County Executive will also hold a public town hall sometime in March to hear from residents on what items you all deem necessary and worthy of funding. The Executive will then finalize the budget and submit to the County for our consideration. We will have our public hearing on the budget then on April 23rd as I mentioned. We will then hold several budget workshops to hear from the various divisions and agencies on the justification and rationale on their budget requests.
The Charter also mandates that this review and any council budget amendments must be acted upon, and the final budget be adopted no later than May 31. Late April and May will be a very busy time for the Council.
But we cannot do this without hearing from you. It has been said, "Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value."
The annual budget reflects the values and what we as a community value. This is your budget document. Please make your voices heard. You can call my office at 301-600-1108, email me at BYoung@FrederickCountyMD.gov, email all seven members of the council at: CouncilMembers@FrederickCountyMD.gov, or you can write us at Winchester Hall, 12 East Church Street, Frederick, 21701.
And as always, if there is ever anything I can do for you, please feel free to reach out to me and my office. You can contact me via email at: BYoung@FrederickCountyMD.gov, or you can call my office at 301-600-1108.
