Politics & Government

County Executive's Operating Budget Proposal Coming Soon

Ken Ulman will release his financial plans for day-to-day services by Saturday.


Amid rumblings that the was closing, County Executive Ken Ulman , assuring them the county was even planning to build "bigger, better senior centers."

But with a "" that cuts $9 million in Howard County's state aid over the next fiscal year, citizens aren't sure where services will be trimmed. They will know more by Friday, when the county executive releases his FY 2013 operating budget proposal, reported The Baltimore Sun.

Ulman and his staff are "'still going through budget deliberations'" this week, according to The Baltimore Sun, before rolling out the operating budget proposal he must present to the County Council by April 21.

Find out what's happening in Elkridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ulman released his  proposal March 30, which was $2.75 million less than the FY 2012 approved capital budget; last month, Ulman stated that his plans involve investing in "key infrastructure." In Elkridge,  land for the fire station and money to construct an elementary school and middle school.

The county executive will complete the budgetary picture with the release of the operating budget proposal—that funds day-to-day government operations—60 percent of which goes toward education.

Find out what's happening in Elkridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The school system submitted its request, for $697.3 million, a 2 percent increase over the current budget, in March.

According to the "" that passed through the Maryland legislature last week, Howard County would lose $3.193 million in per-pupil funding. In addition, the state's budget is $70 million out of balance, reported The Baltimore Sun, which means the governor must make additional reductions.

"We have been planning for the shift of the pensions and for possible cuts in state funding," said Patti Caplan, spokeswoman for the Howard County Public School System, in an email to Elkridge Patch. "We have been strategic in our budget requests since the economic downturn in 2008, anticipating that things would get worse before they got better."

The Spending Affordability Committee, which Ulman commissioned to evaluate revenue projections in drafting his budget, also said that it is "concerned about the operating expenses facing the county." It urged the county executive to "make pragmatic future spending projections [and] seek opportunities in every area to find efficiencies that achieve reduced costs or increased net revenues in both the short and long term," according to the Spending Affordability Committee's report.

In February, Ulman said in a that furlough days and layoffs may be in the county's future. 

Once the county executive submits his proposed operating budget later this week, the County Council will review it and hold public hearings to get feedback. The council must approve the budget by May 23. For more information about the process, read the Howard County Council's FY 2013 budget brochure.

This article has been updated.


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