budget disaster on the horizon in Cecil County

Budget Disaster on the Horizon in Cecil County

Note: I am not employed by any of the entities mentioned in this article.

The sky is about to fall in Cecil County.
Maybe I’m wrong.
I hope I’m wrong.
I’d be happy to go down in history as the Chicken Little of Cecil County.
But I’m probably not wrong.

Thursday night is the unofficial kick-off to the county budget cycle with a town hall for public comment on the budget hosted by new County Executive Danielle Hornberger. According to the press release, the agenda will be similar to past events hosted by other county executives with opening comment from the executive and a presentation about the county’s finances preceding public comment.

When does the sky fall?

The sky will fall on or about April 1 when the County Executive presents the first budget of her fledgling administration to the County Council. That will be the first time we see her concrete plans for the future of Cecil County and my fear is that in order to make good on her campaign promise to reduce taxes she will cripple county departments by slashing their budgets.

What happens after the budget is introduced?

Once the County Council receives the budget from the County Executive they can only cut from the budget, they can’t increase the bottom line for the proposed budget. This means in order to increase the budget for one department, the budget for another department (or departments) would need to be reduced to offset it. In the past, the council hasn’t made significant changes to the budgets from previous county executives and I’m not sure what it would take for them to be moved to make large scale changes to the budget.

What departments are at risk of budget cuts?

Honestly, every department is at risk since this is the first budget prepared by the new County Executive and, wherein in the past, the County Administrator had decades of service and the Director of Finance was also sufficiently experienced, the county executive brought in new people in those roles when she was sworn in in December so we will lose some of the consistency in budgeting that we had come to expect. With no previous experience with the county budget and what appears to be a desire to undo anything previous County Executive Alan McCarthy might have done, there is no way to predict what that budget might look like.

Education-related funding at risk

Based on statements County Executive Hornberger made during her campaign, I’m especially concerned about education funding, including Cecil County Public Schools, Cecil County Public Library, and Cecil College.

Here’s one such quote from an article in the Cecil Whig:

“A recent county budget shows $6 million was designated for local libraries (I’m not even including the $19 million in county funding for the new library). As a former educator, I think libraries and books are important-just not six million dollars important.’

What price would she put on a nationally-awarded library system? We’re about to see and I’m afraid it won’t be good.

Cecil County Public Schools, Cecil County Public Library, and Cecil College all rely on the county for a majority of their funding each year and have no taxing authority (schools do have taxing authority in some areas outside of Maryland).

How much does Cecil County contribute to the annual operating budget for certain entities?

Cecil College$12 million
Cecil County Public Library$6 million
Cecil County Public Schools$86 million
FY2021 Budget in Brief

Cecil County Public Schools is perennially under attack from some in the community who don’t agree with the level of funding the system receives from the county. They seem to be missing the fact that Cecil County is always among the counties with the lowest funding per student in the state (I think we were 17th out of 24 in FY 2020). It’s always the same handful of people making claims about wasteful spending but, in the seven years I’ve been following the budget, that fringe has never identified an example of such spending.

But this year will be different. While the state has a maintenance of effort law requiring the county to fund the school system at the same level as the previous year, that funding is calculated per student, so declining enrollment could mean significantly less funding.

Meanwhile, the Cecil County Public Library and Cecil College rely heavily on funding from the county but I don’t believe there are laws similar to maintenance of effort to protect these entities from potential budget cuts.

What can you do?

If you’ve ever advocated for any part of the county budget, I implore you to advocate for that entity again now..before the County Executive introduces her budget.

Advocate early and advocate often–it’s the only chance we have.

cecil county doesn't have an ethics commission

Once seated, an inexperienced Ethics Commission leaves Cecil County in jeopardy

Read my last post about the Ethics Commission–it will help this post make more sense


2/7/2021

  • Cecil County does not currently have a sitting Ethics Commission following the decision last month by County Executive Danielle Hornberger to dismiss all members of the previous commission at the same time (a move that I’m not sure anyone has determined to be legal but my interpretation of the situation is that those writing such laws or the Cecil County Charter never anticipated such a –words too colorful for this site– move by an elected official).
  • A regular meeting of the commission that was previously scheduled for 2/8/2021 is now listed as “postponed.”
  • I’m wondering if the county is in violation of some state law by not having a commission in place. (So many questions…)
  • Here’s a video from the 2/2/2021 Cecil County Council legislative session.
  • The council is slated to vote on the appointees at the 2/16/2021 meeting. (Not sure what happens if the council votes against the recommendations. Again, so many questions…)

What is the role of the Ethics Commission?

Per the Ethics Commission page of the Cecil County website (retrieved 2/7/2021)
The Ethics Commission, acting under authority of Cecil County and Maryland state law, is charged with the following responsibilities:

  • Oversight, retention, review and enforcement of statements of financial and gift disclosure and conflicts of interest for county employees, elected officials, candidates for county office, and Board and Commission appointees.
  • Oversight, retention, review and enforcement of annual registration and gift disclosure requirements for lobbyists.
  • Issuance of advisory opinions regarding ethics rules, regulations, and requirements.
  • Review and rule on complaints filed alleging ethics violations by persons subject to ethics laws. 
  • Respond to and inform public regarding ethics rules, regulations, and requirements.
  • Certify to State Ethics Commission annually that county is in compliance with state mandated standards.

As you can see from the list of responsibilities above, this position isn’t about ethics in the “discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” definition from Merriam Webster Instead, this position is about the interpretation of laws related to the operation of government–knowledge that is gained over years of study and practice.

An inexperienced Ethics Commission leaves Cecil County open to legal jeopardy

While the people nominated by County Executive Danielle Hornberger might be fine people (I don’t know any of them so I can’t vouch for them), none of them appear to have expertise in this aspect of the law. Without sufficient experience on these complicated matters, seating these nominees on the Ethics Commission leaves Cecil County in a significant position of vulnerability with the potential for costly negative consequences. Poorly made decisions by the commission could easily land the county in a costly court case.

What can we do?

  • File a complaint with the State Prosecutors’ Office.
    • Here’s a direct link to the complaint form
    • Here’s a phone number (800-695-4058) but the form is supposed to be the most efficient way to file.
  • Email the council to encourage them to thoroughly vet the appointees to the commission Copy and paste these email addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or call 410-996-5201.
  • Write a Letter to the Editor of the Cecil Whig by sending an email to [email protected] with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line.
  • Share this post with your friends and ask them to do the same
  • Get engaged and stay engaged with local government. Decisions made at the local level often impact our daily lives more than those at the national level.

State of Cecil County Ethics Commission still unclear

State of Cecil County Ethics Commission still unclear

At her inauguration on December 7, 2020, new Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger touted the importance of transparency and accountability which wasn’t surprising given that it was the first line of the “Pledge to the People of Cecil County ” on her campaign website.


What was surprising, however, was her decision just five weeks later to oust the entire Cecil County Ethics Commission and attempt to appoint five completely new (and completely inexperienced) members to the body.
I don’t think any of us had that on our “Cecil County Shenanigans” bingo cards.

If you want to demonstrate your dedication to transparency and accountability is replacing the entire ethics commission really one of your first acts in your first term in office? It’s kind of like starting a new management position and immediately firing anyone who knows anything about how the organization runs. Oh, wait…she did that on her first day in office.


Here’s what the Cecil County Code says about the members of the Ethics Commission:

§ 39-4 Membership terms.

A. There shall be a Cecil County Ethics Commission, which shall be composed of five members appointed by the County Executive, in accordance with the Charter, to staggered four-year terms.[Amended 11-13-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-12]

B. The Commission members shall serve four-year overlapping terms. All members shall reside in and be qualified voters of Cecil County.

C. Not more than three members of the Commission shall be affiliated with the same political party.

D. A Commission member may serve until a successor is appointed and qualifies.

I don’t recall a reason being given for firing the sitting commission members and appointing all new members except to say that the Cecil County Code said she could but it looks like that has yet to be decided. It’s clear that she can appoint new members but I haven’t found a provision in the code for removing commission members.

Timeline so far

  • 1/14/2021–County executive dismisses ethics commission members
  • 1/19/2021
    • County executive sends appointments for five new commission members to the county council for confirmation
    • Public comment at the beginning of the county council legislative session was overwhelmingly against the county executive’s action
    • Council opts to vote that day to reject the appointments in a 4-1 vote (normally, bills are introduced to council at one meeting and voted on at a future meeting. In this case, it all happened on the same day)

Near future

  • 2/2/2021 (Tues)
    • Council work session–The agenda includes “Discussion- Reconsideration of Ethics Commission Appointment” so that could be an interesting exchange.
    • Council legislative session
      • There will most likely be a lively public comment segment during the meeting.
      • The agenda includes “Reconsideration of Resolution Nos. 08-2021, 09-2021, 10-2021, 11-2021, 12-2021” which are the bills appointing the new ethics commission members.
  • 2/8/2021–Scheduled ethics commission meeting–there are currently no commission members listed on the web page and no agenda posted.

All council meetings are streamed live online due to COVID-19 so you can observe the action from home or even provide your own public comment during the legislative session. Links to the recordings are posted after the meeting. Click here for recordings of past meetings and links to future meetings


What happens next?

Who the heck knows. I’m hoping the council seeks or has already sought its own legal counsel on the subject since the county attorney was also appointed by the county executive and doesn’t appear to bring experience on county ethics law.


What happens if the county council again refuses the appointments? How long can we go on without a properly confirmed ethics comission? Time will tell.


What can you do?

  • Contact the county council to express your concerns about the situation and encourage them to act in accordance with the county charter and code as interpreted by experienced counsel. Copy and paste these email addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or call 410-996-5201.
  • Participate in the public comment portion of this Tuesday’s county council legislative session by clicking this link (If you prefer to submit comment in advance rather than speak live during the virtual meeting, call 410-996-5201 or email [email protected] . You’ll be asked to provide your full name, address, and contact information.)
  • If this drags on past Tuesday, write a letter to the editor of the Whig by sending an email to [email protected] with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line.

Maybe what we’re witnessing is just a new administration taking the slate clearing a little too aggressively–maybe–but if transparency and accountability are to be hallmarks of an administration this is an odd way to show it.

record on turntable

The Broken Record of Education Funding in Cecil County

Welcome to budget season for FY 2021 where I bet some of you can sing the song along with me–and until Cecil County comes up with a more sustainable way to fund its schools this song will play like a broken record.

The best way I can explain the situation for Cecil County Public Schools

Even if nothing changed from year to year, if expenses for things like utilities and supplies remained the same, even if they kept the exact same number of employees in the exact same jobs, the school system’s expenses would increase every year by several million dollars <gasp> …because the school system needs to honor the salary increases it has negotiated with its employees.

There is nothing scandalous about this fact. In corporate America, annual budgets include a line item for salary increases because most of us expect some type of increase every year and CCPS does the same.

Cecil County Public Schools remains one of the largest employers in the county with over 2,000 employees and most of those employees are represented by unions who negotiate multi-year contracts with the school system.

That means that every year before one department enters a budget request for a single pencil, the school system knows it needs a certain increase in its budget just to cover the salaries of its employees.

But that’s if nothing changed from year to year which isn’t reality

The reality is that the student population has changed with more students requiring more expensive services:

Time to advocate for education funding in Cecil County

Back to the broken record–every year I ask you to do the same things to advocate for education funding in Cecil County because our advocacy is required for every budget season. Maybe one day we won’t have to go to the county to plead for adequate funding but that time hasn’t arrived.

Honestly, the county has heard similar presentations from the school system for years and now those county officials also know what I will say when I show up at an event or send them an email so they’ve become somewhat deaf to us, but the one thing that continues to work is when new community members share their personal stories. When you tell them your experiences about education in Cecil County, we stand a better chance of making a difference. You don’t have to be an eloquent speaker (you can always send an email) and your story doesn’t have to be profound, it only has to be a glimpse into the significant roles our schools play in our community.

Ways to advocate

Feb 11 at 6 PM–County Executive’s Citizen Public Input Session on the FY 2021 Budget

The event will be livestreamed on the the county website.

If you are unable to attend but would like to submit written comments:

Mr. Al Wein, Director of Administration, at [email protected] or 200 Chesapeake Blvd, Elkton, MD 21921, no later than Friday, February 14, 2020

If you prefer to call, the phone number is 410-996-5202

Cecil County Ranks 17th in local education funding

Cecil County, OK is not enough

Click here for an update on the FY 2021 budget

Below is an email I sent to County Executive Alan McCarthy and members of his administration on 3/28/19, prior to the announcement of his proposed budget for FY 2020.

For too long, Cecil County has been willing to accept “OK,” as an assessment for many things in our community.

It’s time we acknowledge that “OK is not enough,” especially when it comes to funding our schools.

And more important than merely acknowledging that we are not willing to “settle,” it’s time our county budget reflects the priorities of our citizens.

County officials profess a desire to increase the number of residents who attain at least a bachelor’s degree yet the county’s track record for investing in education says otherwise. In the state of Maryland, 39% of residents have earned at least a bachelor’s degree; Cecil County, in comparison, has one of the lowest rates in the state at just 23%, ranking 17th out of 24.

That fact shouldn’t be shocking when the county also ranks 17th for local funding of education.

How far does local funding from Cecil County lag behind much of the state?

In FY 2019, the county spent $5,616 per student on education, $1,891 per student less than the state rate per student–with an enrollment of 14,800 students, that’s almost $28 million less…in one year.

Every year the county funds the schools at or near the maintenance of effort, the minimum permitted by state law, all the while treating the requirement to fund the school system as an unreasonable demand.

During the period immediately following the recession, such under-funding might have been understandable but, more than a decade later, this is no longer acceptable.

I find the current state of the county’s finances particularly infuriating because I vocally supported the tax increases that were introduced with the FY 2018 budget, foolishly expecting that some of that additional revenue would be spent on our schools. Instead, the county raised $14 million in additional taxes in one year but only increased its appropriation to education in that year by $1.1 million and in the current year by $800,000.

James Frick said, “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.”

What will this budget show Cecil County’s priorities to be? (4/14/19 note: unfortunately, once again, County Executive Alan McCarthy’s proposed budget does not adequately fund education. “The County’s regular allocation to the Board of Education for managing the County’s public schools is increasing by ***$2,442,145*** to a total of $84,905,673. This allocation is 3.6% or $3,000,000 above the State’s Maintenance of Effort calculation.” )

(And just for good measure, I added) P.S. Reminder: Perryville High School is still waiting for a field house–over 40 years after the school opened.

Despite Increased County Revenue, County Executive Says School System will be “Flat Funded” for FY 2020

Last week Cecil County Executive Alan McCarthy sat down for an interview with Cecil TV that should’ve shocked the county’s education advocates.

Unfortunately, only a few of us have seen it.

I didn’t share it on social media because additional facts needed to be included.

Transcript

[10:34] Cecil TV: So, Cecil County Public Schools is seeking a $6.4 million increase over their FYI 19 budget allocation and, and they’ve said that they would need more like 30 million to be on par with the state averages as far as per pupil funding and declining enrollment and increased wealth in the county will likely lead to less and less money coming from the state. How are we going to keep up?

[11:04] McCarthy: The only way that we can keep up is basically for the county to find ways to generate new revenue. One of the problems is we brought lots of new businesses in, but because they’re in an enterprise zone, they do not generate the tax revenue which they really will anticipate after their time in the enterprise zone is basically expanded. For example, if you were to make a capital contribution wherever you do to improve the property, the county only collects 20% of that the first five years. That’s 25% 20%, per year for five years. And then we get 30%, 40%, 50% in a decreasing scale for them but beneficial for us. Right now we’re in the infancy of this program. So our revenues are not nearly what they will be in a brief 10 year time period.

[11:52] McCarthy: So, without that I don’t really know how we can get more revenue for the public schools because they’re growing their expenses at a far greater rate that we can grow the revenues. 

[12:00] McCarthy: Right, even though they’ve tried to slash funding for example this year we’re basically flat, in terms of revenue. Last year we basically had three or four businesses that refinanced which basically provided to us about $3 million in extra revenue but there’s no guarantee and we can’t count on those things happening every year. So this year we’ll basically will have to flat fund them. I’m going to provide them as much money as I can, but I don’t think it’s going to be anywhere near $6.4, million. 

[12:36] Cecil TV: Right. So the county council was set to deliberate on March. Next Monday March 11, I believe, on, on the county on those schools budget request goes. (Note: the Cecil County Board of Education will vote on its budget for FY 2020 tonight. The county council won’t deliberate on the budget for another or so.)

[12:44] McCarthy: Yes

[12:46] Cecil TV: How do you think that they will do it?

[14:48] McCarthy: I think it will be more aligned with me. I can’t promise what they’re going to do, but I would think that they would…a six point, but it was a 7.6% increase is a huge, huge increase and I mean I can understand your needs, I can their wants. But once again, we have to maintain a balanced budget and the money is just not there without basically totally cannibalizing other departments in Cecil County government.

Did he forget about the tax increase?

What?!? “$3 million in extra revenue” last year?!? The county’s own annual report noted that tax revenue increased $13.8 million in FY 2018 over 2017:

The revenues and transfers in for fiscal year 2018 increased $13,801,818 compared to the prior fiscal year. Primary factors in these results are:

  • Property taxes were more than prior year by $7,681,046 primarily due tax rate increase of $.0500 from $0.9914 to $1.0414 as of July 1, 2017;
  • Income taxes exceeded prior year by $1,295,428 – primarily due tax rate increase of $0.20 from $2.80 to $3.00 as of July 1, 2017;
  • Real estate transfer taxes (recordation taxes and deed transfer fees) increased by $4,473,394;

Granted, that $13.8 million was included in the FY 2018 budget so they might not consider it “extra revenue,” but it is extra revenue all the same.

Check out this math: $13.8 million in tax revenue=$775,000 increase in the county’s “regular allocation” to CCPS in FY 2019

Where is that $13 million?

Somehow county officials keep “forgetting” to tell us where that additional tax revenue is going. It never seems to come up–it wasn’t mentioned at the county town hall on the budget or in this interview and I haven’t read about it anywhere. You think they’d be doing backflips to have the additional funds and shouting from the rooftops that they can finally restore funding to county departments, including the board of education.

But it was never mentioned.

They didn’t decrease taxes for FY 2019, so while they might report that certain tax revenues are down this year compared to budget, that budget was significantly more than the revenue from FY 2017. Below is a snapshot of just the property tax budget:

Property Tax Budget for FY 2019 Compared to FY 2018 Budget and 2017 Actual

Again, where is that additional tax revenue?

Is it in the county’s fund balance that we’ve heard so much about?

Nope. Well, at least it’s not in the line item that some talk about as fund balance:

Also from the county’s annual report for FY 2018: “Unassigned funds of $9,775,539 are down $471,947 from 2017…”

Let’s see:

  • Almost $14 million in additional tax revenue in the first year of the tax increase
  • Only $800,000 in additional spending on education
  • “Fund balance” is down almost $500,000
  • The higher tax rate continued in FY 2019
  • And education is going to be “flat funded” in the second year of the tax increase?!?

It’s not too late–yet!

Email County Executive Alan McCarthy at [email protected] and Director of Administration Al Wein at [email protected] and tell them you want adequate education funding in the FY 2020 budget.

While you’re there, ask them if they’re up to date on the Kirwan Commission and its requirements for local education funding. Failure to fund specific initiatives like teacher salary increases and pre-K for all 4 year olds will mean the county leaves state grant money on the table.

What about those Cecil County tax increases?

What about those tax increases?

The FY2018 budget came with tax increases but that money hasn’t gone to education

Note: The articles on this website are my opinion based on my research and observations. I am not employed by Cecil County Public Schools.

County Executive Alan McCarthy took office in November of 2017 and I was hopeful that education funding in Cecil County would increase to adequate levels.

When he presented his first budget that spring–a budget that was proudly touted to be the first in quite some time that didn’t tap into the county’s savings (it’s called fund balance) to cover expenses–it also included tax increases that we were told were absolutely necessary in order to “set the County’s ship aright.”

And I supported those tax increases–because I wanted to see Cecil County Public Schools finally receive appropriate funding.

That budget included a meager 1.34% increase in funding for the Cecil County Public Schools operating budget and hardly anything for the long list of projects on the small capital request.

To use a sports analogy, I considered it a rebuilding year.

Yet, when the county executive announced his proposed budget for FY2019 last spring, funding for CCPS was again meager with just a 0.9% increase. An amount that was just above the maintenance of effort, the minimum amount the state will permit a local government to spend on education. (Note: I just recently learned that state law requires maintenance of effort to increase at a certain rate year over year and that failure to do so could result in the state withholding the county’s revenue to cover it. The bottom line: don’t act like the school system should be grateful to receive that increase—the state is forcing you. Thank heavens for the maintenance of effort laws or there’s no telling where we’d be.)

Turmoil over fund balance

Ah, fund balance, we’re always talking about fund balance. Yes, unfortunately, we are–again.

Last February there was heated debate about the Cecil County Public Schools fund balance. In this case, CCPS was asking permission from the county to spend part of its fund balance on several long-needed projects, including a field house at Perryville High School (they’ve only waited 42 years). The county wasn’t funding those projects so CCPS wanted to use some of its savings to cover the costs.

The Cecil County Council had to approve the appropriation which they eventually did but not before dragging CCPS over the coals…for saving money…and spending it on capital projects (which are the county’s responsibility.)

Most of this became a moot point when CCPS was forced to use $1.4 million of its fund balance to cover the FY2019 operating budget that the county didn’t fully fund and the FY 2018 fiscal year came to a close.

New fiscal year, new drama (again, about fund balance)

In August the county decided to release some of the money they’d had in reserve pending the decision on a state court case. And, lucky day, they wanted to spend $1.0 million of that money to fund school entrance upgrades.

Not so fast…

First, they wanted to torture CCPS over their fund balance again…and add strings to the funding.

The county would appropriate the money but only if CCPS agreed to spend their fund balance on additional school entrances.

For several weeks there was back and forth between the county and the school system. Some members of council explained that they’d been told the county should boost its fund balance so they would rather see CCPS spend its fund balance. (The county is responsible for funding CCPS, including the facilities so the county should be funding these projects. In fact, if the county had funded the school system’s capital budget requests for the last decade many of these entrances would’ve been addressed as buildings were renovated or replaced.)

Despite the drama, the funding was eventually approved in September.

“Thou doth protest too much”

All the talk about fund balances got me thinking–how much money is in the county’s fund balance?

Aside from pointing out that the FY 2018 budget was the first in several years that didn’t dip into the county’s fund balance and ominous reminders that the county needs to maintain enough fund balance to keep its bond ratings, I’d seen little discussion about the county’s fund balance. I went looking and found two clips from articles in the Cecil Whig:

“Cecil County’s budgetary flexibility is strong, in our view, with an available fund balance in fiscal 2017 of 14 percent of operating expenditures, or $25.6 million.”

[Standard and Poor’s Global (S&P), one of the bond rating agencies] Cecil Whig, 11/20/17

“According to the FY 2018 financial reports, there is $43.63 million in the county’s [general fund], although $10 million was deemed non-spendable since it was earmarked for the motor vehicle fund advance and to subsidize the sewer fund. After assigning hundreds of thousands in other funds for other initiatives (including the volunteer fire companies’ allocation) and maintaining 10 percent of the FY 2019 revenue budget for “rainy days,” the county has $9.7 million in the fund balance that is unassigned.”


Cecil Whig, 12/15/18

Then I looked at the county’s annual financial report:

S&P, the bond rating agency, noted that the county’s available fund balance was $25.6 million at the end of FY 2017.

If you compare those same lines at the end of FY 2018, the available fund balance was $33.6 million. That’s an increase of $8.0 million in one year.

Cecil County Annual Report for the year ended June 30, 2018

We could get into a discussion about complicated terms like Assigned Fund Balance vs. Unassigned Fund Balance but I look at it as different pockets in the same pair of pants. S&P pointed to the sum of those two lines so that’s what I’m comparing.

Since fund balance isn’t a term most of us use every day, let’s look at something more familiar…

But what about those tax increases?

Again, from the county’s annual financial report:

“…Property taxes were more than prior year by $7,681,046 primarily due tax rate increase…”
“…Income taxes exceeded prior year by $1,295,428 – primarily due tax rate increase…”
“…Real estate transfer taxes (recordation taxes and deed transfer fees) increased by $4,473,394…”

Cecil County Annual Report FY2018

That adds up to a $13.4 million increase in revenue.

Cecil Count Annual Report for the year ended June 30, 2018

And yet this year’s budget drama has started off just like the others I’ve followed:

  • The county executive’s public input session on the FY 2020 budget earlier this month led off with a “budget preview.” That presentation was much like the ones I’d seen before–the state took highway user funds from local governments to the tune of $5-6 million a year, expenses are up, the local economy hasn’t rebounded as projected, etc. I don’t recall any mention of increased revenue but maybe I missed it.
  • The FY 2020 budget currently proposed by CCPS is once again bare bones. Even though it comes with a price tag that is $6.4 million over last year’s budget, $4.1 million of that amount is cost of living and step increases for employees.
  • The state informed Cecil County that its constant yield rate increased slightly which could mean a slight decrease in property tax rates. County officials were quoted in the Cecil Whig as citing the proposed CCPS budget increase as one reason that rate shouldn’t be reduced. Throwing CCPS under the bus in the press again? So early in the budget season?

The actors may have changed but the plot remains the same.

That leaves me to ask–what is being done with that additional revenue?

I supported a tax increase because I evidently foolishly believed the funds would lead to an increase in education funding but I’ve neither seen nor heard anything that demonstrates that to be the reality.

This increased revenue isn’t an anomaly. According to the monthly financials posted on the county website, as of 11/30/18, the county continues to see that revenue.

The perennial question has been “Where does the casino money go?” (and we can talk about that later) Maybe we also need to ask where the tax revenue goes and we need to ask that question of the people who are responsible for it instead of just asking each other in passing.

Advocate for the FY 2020 budget now

The county executive will present his proposed budget for FY 2020 on March 29. Once the county council receives the budget, nothing can be added (the council can increase the budget for education but that increase has to come from some other place in the budget).

I encourage you to email the county executive and his administration during this crucial period of budget preparation and tell them you expect that budget to include adequate funding for CCPS. To share your support of the budget or to advocate for specific parts of the budget, email County Executive Alan McCarthy at [email protected] and Director of Administration Mr. Al Wein at [email protected].

Note: the agenda for the March 5, 2019 Cecil County Council legislative session includes the introduction of a new bill regarding the county’s fund balance. Here’s link to the bill and the appendix.

Cecil County budget timeline

If we wait, it will be too late!

Now is the time of year to advocate for education funding in Cecil County and, in order for your advocacy to be most effective, you need to understand some steps in the process.

Honestly, most organizations are talking about the budget all year long–whether they are measuring success or failure with meeting the budget for the current year or determining budgetary needs for the future, key people within that organization are thinking about budgets year round. (CCPS discusses its current position against the budget at every monthly meeting and the documents supporting the conversation are available to the public in their BoardDocs document system.)

But many decisions for the coming year are being made NOW!

Here’s the budget timeline

Superintendent proposes his budget to the members of the board of education (the group that will have to approve the budget). Feb 6
Superintendent and board discuss any changes that may be necessary.
School system holds a public hearing where the community can comment on the budget. Feb 20
Superintendent presents his final budget to the county executive.
County executive presents his budget to the county council. March 29
County council holds a series of public meetings with every department to learn more about their specific request. April & May
Council holds a public hearing on the budget. May 23
Council votes to approve the budget as originally presented or with changes. June 4
After the county budget is confirmed, the board of education votes to adopt its final budget. June 10
New fiscal year starts and the budget goes into effect July 1

We’re at a critical point in the process

Once County Executive Alan McCarthy presents the budget to the county council, nothing can be added (the council can increase the budget for education but that increase has to come from some other place in the budget).

Our job is to let the county executive know that we support increased education funding in Cecil County. 

He’s an elected official and, while he hasn’t announced plans to run for a second term, that’s certainly a possibility.

We need to let him know:

  1. We expect education to be funded adequately
  2. We will either support him during the election or hold him accountable for his budgetary decisions.

But it’s not as simple as it sounds

The final budget request from CCPS will come with a higher price tag than recent budgets and that number is the minimum the school system needs.

In recent years, the county has funded CCPS at either the minimum level permitted by state law (called maintenance of effort) or just slightly above.

There will be a small but vocal group advocating *against* the school system’s budget. (Truthfully, they want to fight anything that costs money and doesn’t directly benefit them. They don’t grasp that maintaining a thriving community costs money.)

I haven’t even mentioned the capital budget yet.

Your mission, if you accept it, is to contact the county executive NOW.

It is our only chance at getting the necessary funding.

If we wait, it will be too late!

To share your support of the budget or to advocate for specific parts of the budget, you can email County Executive Dr. Alan McCarthy at [email protected] and Director of Administration Mr. Al Wein at [email protected].

CCPS FY 2020 budget Advocate or Else

First Look at FY 2020 Cecil County Public Schools Budget

Advocate…or Else?

Note: The articles on this website are my opinion based on my research and observations. I am not employed by Cecil County Public Schools.

Last week new Cecil County Public Schools superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Lawson presented his first proposed budget to the Board of Education and a typically sparse audience. (To their credit, new Cecil County Council members Al Miller and Bill Coutz were in attendance.)

I’ll be posting more detail as the budget develops but the short story is the proposed operating budget for FY 2020 is an increase of $6.4 million over the FY 2019 budget.

While opponents distort the data any way they can in order to inflame the uninformed, the reality is pretty straight forward.

The increase can be broken into two pieces:

  • Salaries–$4.1 million–Employee cost of living (COLAs) and step increases stipulated in the county’s contracts with various employee groups (teachers, support staff, etc.).

Cecil County Public Schools is the second largest employer in Cecil County (only WL Gore employs more people) with just over 2,000 employees, many of whom are county residents so much of that money gets spent within the county.

CCPS honored those contracts during the darkest days of the recession in order to maintain the quality of its workforce and reduce the number of employees defecting to neighboring school systems. When funding suddenly dried up in 2009 and hard decisions had to be made, CCPS opted to cut over 150 positions in order to continue providing increases for remaining employees.

It’s important to note that the proposed increase includes a plan to cut 12 positions as part of this budget (During his presentation, Dr. Lawson specified that most of the cuts will happen from a hiring freeze that is already in place and attrition as people opt to leave positions at the end of the school year.)

  • Everything else–Even with cuts across various departments, including some cuts that are substantial, and overly optimistic (my words) projected savings, the proposed budget requires additional funding.
    • Some of the bigger ticket items in the budget:
    • $360,000–Other salaries & wages–this includes substitute teachers, overtime, and similar expenses.
    • $190,000–Benefits
    • $800,000–Non-public school programs–Cecil County is required by state law to provide an appropriate education for all students and if the public school system can’t provide the education services students require, the county must pay for those students to attend private schools that provide the necessary services.
    • $400,000–Diesel Program at CCST–Supplies and materials need to be purchased in order to begin offering the diesel technician program at Cecil County School of Technology. I’ve seen a lot of interest in this program since it was announced a few months ago but without this funding and an additional $200,000 in capital funding for the necessary building renovations at CCST, I don’t see how it will happen this fall.
    • $220,000–Transportation–Increased expenses for transporting special education students
    • $330,000–Utilities–Summer heat that extended into the fall meant more air conditioning and the overall cost of fuel is projected to increase.

I could and will go into more detail in future posts but that’s the budget in a nutshell.

Update 3/15/19: CCPS released the video below about the budget.

Bottom line: Advocate…or Else?

For those posting comments along the lines of “The schools need to tighten their belts” and find the money for these increases in the funding they already receive, while your insight is helpful ANY FAT WAS CUT FROM THE BUDGET YEARS AGO. Now we’re cutting into the meat.

Citizens: if you want CCPS to retain and attract quality teachers and staff and/or if you want to see a new diesel program introduced at CCST, you’ll need to advocate for this budget.

Employees: you know better than I do which school systems have not given increases in recent years or are considering that option as part of their FY 2020 budgets, the county needs to hear from you or that could become a reality in Cecil County (again, my words). With 2,000 employees, your collective voices would drown out the squawking of the few persistent malcontents but the county has to hear from YOU.

Budget Timeline

February 12 – County Executive Public Hearing (Citizen Input) 6:00 p.m.
February 20 – Board of Education Budget Hearing, 6:00 p.m.
March 11 ‐ Board Approval of Proposed Budget, 6:00 p.m.
March 29 ‐ County Executive Submits Proposed Budget to Council
April XX ‐ Board of Education Presentation to Council
May 23 ‐ Council Hearing on the County Annual Budget
June 4 ‐ Council Approval of the County Annual Budget
June 10 ‐ Board Approval of the Budget, 6:00 p.m.

Contact the County Executive Now

If we wait to advocate until County Executive Alan McCarthy submits his budget to the County Council, we’ll be too late. At that point, council can only approve the budget or cut it (they can increase education funding but any increase has to be offset by a decrease somewhere else).

To share your support of the budget or to advocate for specific parts of the budget, you can email County Executive Dr. Alan McCarthy at [email protected] and Director of Administration Mr. Al Wein at [email protected].

council wavering on school entrances

Council Wavering on Funding School Security Upgrades

Tomorrow night (9/4/18) the Cecil County Council has its first real opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to school security–and at least one council member thinks the county can’t afford the project.

County Executive Recommends $1.0 Million in Funding for School Security projects

In August, Cecil County Executive Alan McCarthy recommended that the county invest up to $1.0 million to bring the entrances at some county schools up to current security standards. The funding for the project would come from money the county had previously held in reserve pending the outcome of a court case.

The council must now approve the expenditure in a vote that is expected at tomorrow night’s council meeting.

Weeks of Back & Forth

In the weeks since the county executive’s recommendation was introduced, there have been numerous discussions between the council and the administration of Cecil County Public Schools covering multiple tangential topics. But the conversation boils down to this:

The county wants these projects completed (Yay! Progress!) but some elected officials think the school system should fund the project rather than the county (Um, that’s really not how budgeting is supposed to work.)

Your fund balance or our fund balance?

As I’ve written previously, fund balance is the money remaining in the operating budget after all other expenses have been met (apologies to anyone with a background in accounting for my oversimplification). Cecil County and Cecil County Public Schools each have their own fund balances and policies regarding the levels that should be held in reserve.

CCPS, for example, was forced to use its fund balance in several prior years to offset reductions in county funding and has planned to use a portion of its fund balance to fund its FY19 operating budget because the county did not fully cover the CCPS budget request.

Despite these expenditures, CCPS managed to rebuild its fund balance to a level that exceeds the minimum requirement of the board of education’s  policy and in February they went to the county council for approval to use part of that additional money to complete several long overdue projects including the first four secure entrance upgrades, new security cameras in the county’s high schools, a new phone system, and a field house at Perryville High School (*hold your applause on the field house for now because that project appears to be very much on the bubble*). With some consternation, the council approved the request.

Keep in mind: this isn’t the way budgeting is supposed to work but desperate times=desperate measures

Remember, all of these projects are the responsibility of Cecil County and funding for such projects is normally accomplished via the annual capital budget process.

But the county has a lousy track record of funding small capital projects so CCPS made the unusual decision to fund these projects out of its fund balance

The county’s “waning” fund balance?

In an article in Friday’s Cecil Whig, council member Jackie Gregory wrote that the projects should be funded out of the CCPS fund balance because the $1.0 million would be better spent increasing the county’s “waning fund balance.”

The county’s fund balance is “waning?” It’s not sand eroding from the beach–if the county’s fund balance is lower than some would prefer it’s because the money has been s-p-e-n-t.

You might ask–how has Cecil County been spending its fund balance?–that’s the subject of another article so stay tuned.

Reach out to the County Council and tell them to vote to fund school security upgrades

The vote is tomorrow night so time is running out!