Commissioner - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening folks. Welcome to the Queen's County Commissioners meeting. This is a public meeting that is being aired live on our local cable television station, QAC TV 7. These media broadcasts provide county citizens an opportunity to watch and participate in our scheduled public meetings. In addition to our live audience this evening, we are providing remote options for citizens to watch county commissioner meetings. Citizens may watch our meeting live on our website at QAC.org slash live or our public access governmental television channel provided by Breeze Line Cable Services. We acknowledge everyone's participation and by attending you acknowledge that this session is both recorded and aired. Press and public comment will be taken and is limited to three minutes per person. If you do care to speak, please sign up at the information table. Any comments longer than three minutes can be submitted in writing for the commissioner's review. We will now stand and be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Commission President Jim Moran. We flag the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. all right folks so the purpose of tonight's meeting is to present the county commissioners proposed fy 2027 operating and capital budgets and then to receive public comment so commissioners do you want to you can sit up here i know you've seen this a couple times already but you're welcome to sit in the audience as well um and i'll introduce my commissioners our commissioners uh... mister jack wilson district one vice president over here in the white shirt chris corcoran industry for in the blue shirt phil domino in the uh... jacket their district three commissioner jim ran our president and at large commissioner in the purple shirt coming down right now is commissioner patrick mclaughlin district two in the uh... gray jacket all right folks i have a brief presentation provides a upper-level overview of the FY27 budget. And as I mentioned following the presentation, we will be receiving your public comments. And again, we have the sign-up sheets in the back, so please sign up if you want to speak tonight. All right, so we'll get right to it. This is, I'm Todd Monn, the county administrator, and this is the proposed FY27 budget for the county commissioners. So the first slide gives us an overview of the totals. So our FY27 budget next year is proposed at $231 million. That is a 10.3% increase over the FY26 budget. Income tax revenue is projected to grow by about 14%. Property tax revenue is projected to grow about 10%, and those are over the FY25 actuals. We have some new revenue coming in from short-term rental, the short-term rental permitting and tax collection program, which was initiated two years ago. $100,000 in new revenue there. Income tax rates and property tax rates are the two tax rates that the county commissioners set. The income tax rate is proposed to remain the same at 3.2% for next year. And the property tax rate, the commissioners have elected to decrease the property tax rate by $0.03 per $100 of assessed value at $0.80 per $100. So that is good news. All right, so some budget highlights on the expenditure side for operations. I'll start off with our Board of Education. We have funded the Board of Education at $8.7 million above the FY26 appropriation, which is $8.9 million above the required maintenance of effort. We've added an additional EMS crew. This will be our seventh emergency medical systems unit to continue to decrease our unit response times for emergency operations, $1.2 million a year, and that will be stationed in the Graysonville region. We've included 16 new positions overall in the budget, including a bus driver for the county ride program, a jury commissioner for the circuit court, a communications captain for our Department of Emergency Services, and the eight positions for the seventh EMS unit that I just mentioned. For our employees, we've included funding for recruitment and retention actions, including a 3% cost of living allowance and pay for performance. And for our capital projects account, we have PAYGO funding from the operations budget that will be transferred to capital, $4.4 million for next year. These next couple of slides provides an overview of the Board of Education Appropriations, the history and the forecast going forward. As you know, we do receive state dollars for our public school systems as well as county allocations. So first up is the state funds. So the state funding for fiscal year 2027 is just over $45 million. And unfortunately, that's about $3.5 million less than was forecasted by the state in the state's Kerwin funding plan for this fiscal year coming up. And that adds to the tally now, which has exceeded $12 million over the last five years from FY22 to FY27. So we're about $12 million short in state revenues for our public school systems over that time period. On the county side, the county funding for fiscal year 2027 comes in at $91.4 million. Again, that is $8.9 million above the required maintenance of effort. That value does not include teacher pension liabilities, private daycare costs that the state has passed on to the counties this year again. So we call those state cost shifts. So they're continuing to push more down on the counties to pick up that they can't fund because of their budget deficits. But overall, these numbers reflect about a $7 million per year allocation that the county commissioners have been providing to the Board of Education over these past several years. This chart reflects graphically the numbers that we just saw on those two charts. The chart on your left is the state and county funding lines. You can see the blue line near the bottom of the chart. That is the state funding that we received. The dashed line just above that is the forecast where the state had allocated or forecasted allocations for the county. So you can see they're falling short of what they promised us to provide for our public school systems. The green line is the county funding. And you can see thereabouts, starting at about FY23, the county's commissioners have provided additional allocations far above the required MOE amounts for the public school system. The chart on the right hand side of the graph up there, the blue line shows this K through 12 student population numbers. And you can see the population at the school peaked at 7,536 students right prior to COVID in 2019. And it's been on the decline ever since. So in 2026, they were at 7,115 students. So we do see increased funding with a reduction in our population at the schools. All right, this particular slide is the tally of all the budgeted revenues the county receives for the operations and capital budgets. So over the past few years, we've been very conservative with our revenue estimates out of concerns for potential tariffs and federal layoff impacts to income taxes and other federal uncertainties. However, we do continue to see income tax growth in excess of state estimates. And for next year, you can see we're estimating $105.5 million in total revenue from income tax, which is the largest allocation overall. I'm going to highlight a few other numbers on this chart as we move through it. Next, a few lines down, our public utility tax is expected to decline next year as utility assets have continued to decrease due to depreciation. A few more lines down, you can see our recordation and transfer taxes are both increasing, and that's primarily due to continued strong new home sales and increased home values. Our intergovernmental revenues are also increasing next year due to higher 911 fee collections and grants we receive for police aid and a few lines down under miscellaneous. Our interest income is expected to decline next year as the federal government continues to slowly lower interest rates. okay so this dollar bill reflects kind of where your tax dollars go and uh... sixty six cents of every general fund dollar is allocated to education and public safety combined uh... the first block there you see of the dollar is forty three cents for education uh... public education or board of ed the second block public education or public safety at twenty three cents followed by general government at nine cents public works at seven cents parks recreation natural resources three cents and everything else outside agencies and all the other departments miscellaneous expenses uh 15 cents so the takeaway here is two-thirds of our overall county operations budget goes to education and public safety combined so that's a big chunk of our our budget this chart reflects the real property tax rate by county and we're happy to say that uh... with this current reduction in tax rate eighty cents per hundred dollars of assessed value a three cents three-cent property tax cut queen is county is projected to be the lowest property tax rate in the state of maryland after this decrease you can see uh... queen is kind of there is uh... the yellow bar all the way on the uh... right hand side of the chart and everything goes up from there you see of most of the counties are half of the counties are above a dollar And Baltimore City, all the way to the left, well over $2 per $100 of assessed value. So we're very proud to say that we are the lowest rate in the state. Okay, this next series of slides provides a tally of the budgeted expenditures by department and outside agency by grouping. And I'll highlight a few of these, but I'll say generally that our departmental increases are expected to rise about 5% to 7%. Generally, mainly due to staff salaries, health insurance, premiums, and benefit increases overall. A few other sections here that are above that. First is the legal services. They're increasing due to continuing anticipated litigation that we're engaged in. Our budget and finance department is up due to additional accounting support for the town of Soldersville, which we're here today. along with increases for postage expenses for tax bills and tax delinquency bills. And for folks that may not know, we recently did acquire the town of Southernsville water and wastewater system, so that's the reason we're now providing those accounting services for those utilities. Our human resources expenses now include a new peer-to-peer counseling program for our public safety employees and volunteer firefighters. A FEW LINES DOWN UNDER COMMUNITY SERVICES, OUR PUBLIC HOUSING SHOWS A HIGHER INCREASE TO COVER THE HIRING OF AN ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEE FOR MAINTENANCE SERVICES FOR OUR PUBLIC HOUSING STOCK, SUCH AS FOXTOWN HERE IN SOUTHERSVILLE. THIS SLIDE SHOWS OUR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT AND OUR PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT. So you can see under Public Works, we have Animal Services is a bit higher next year for additional kennel equipment that is planned, also additional emergency lighting and safety features at the Animal Services shelter. Under the Parks and Recreation Division, you'll see both the airport and golf course are lower due to reduced general fund support needed to balance their overall budgets next year. So we recently closed on some airport loans. AND WE'RE RECEIVING HIGHER REVENUES FROM THE GOLFING FEES AT THE BLUE HERRON GOLF COURSE. THESE ARE THE OUTSIDE AGENCIES THAT WE FUND, THE COMMISSIONER'S FUND, AGAIN, LEADING OFF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. THAT'S INCREASING BY JUST OVER 10%, AND THAT IS TO COVER THE INCREASING COST MANDATED BY THE BLUEPRINT FOR MARYLAND'S EDUCATION FUTURE. Our state's attorney's office in the other agencies group shows a larger increase to cover new case management software for their agency. Our circuit court is getting a new additional jury commissioner next year to help with their increasing caseload. Our board of elections, the increase there covers the leasing of additional poll book equipment. And you'll see near the bottom, the Soil Conservation Service, which is also in Centerville, it's a Maryland agency, is lower next year due to the reduction of their workforce by one and a half full-time equivalents. Okay, lastly, these are the other categories, including debt, transfers, and other. You'll see, again, the top line, there are debt for the Board of Education is higher next year to cover debt service for the new administration building, which is now completed, along with two roof projects that are now completed as well at Mattapique Elementary and Mattapique Middle Schools. OUR INTERGOVERNMENTAL EXPENSES ARE UP UNDER THE OTHER CATEGORY DUE TO CONTINUED INCREASES FOR THE STATE ASSESSMENT OFFICE, ANOTHER STATE FUNCTION, A COST SHIFT FROM THE STATE TO THE COUNTIES, INCREASES TO TOWN REBATES VIA THE TAX OFFSET PROGRAM, AND AN INCREASE IN THE STATE PENSION ADMINISTRATION FEES. OUR GENERAL INSURANCE IS ALSO UP DUE TO INCREASING PREMIUMS AND THE ADDITION OF THE PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITY FACILITIES UNDER THE COUNTY'S UMBRELLA. UNDER TRANSFERS, OUR CAPITAL FUND IS UP DUE TO THE INCREASE IN PEGA FUNDING, WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, TO SUPPORT THE FY27 CAPITAL PROJECTS ACCOUNT. AND LASTLY, I'LL SAY THAT OUR AG TRANSFERS HAVE DECREASED DUE TO SOMEWHAT OF A REDUCTION IN THE ANTICIPATED FUNDING SUPPORT NEEDED FOR NEXT YEAR. Alright, so what changed from this current year, FY26 to FY27? So this is just a comparison chart showing the increased revenues, where they were derived from, on the uh... left-hand side and the expense side where they were allocated for the uh... for next year and therefore twenty seven and once again you'll see that income taxes leads away at sixteen million in new revenue followed by property taxes at three point four million total overall new revenue twenty one point five million on the expense side uh... a bulk of that went to the board of education eight point nine million followed by public safety at 2.3 million, and of course our transfer to capital for capital projects at 3.8 million. So balancing out the revenue and expenses from FY26 to FY27. Okay, I'll move into the capital program for next year. Once again, leading off with our Board of Education, we have included funding for design of the new Centerville Middle School, HVAC replacements at Kennard Elementary and Centerville Elementary, a roof replacement at Kennard Elementary, and repaving of the Ken Island High School parking lot and bus loop. We have several bus replacements and furniture replacements and some other small administrative and facility maintenance projects. FOR CHESAPEAKE COLLEGE, WE'VE INCLUDED FUNDING FOR THE NEW QUEEN ANNE'S TECHNICAL CENTER BUILDING. IT'S A MULTI-YEAR, $4.1 MILLION PROJECT FUNDED BY ALL FIVE MIDSHORE COUNTIES, AND THIS IS FOR THE DESIGN SERVICES PHASE. AND THEY ARE UNDER DESIGN NOW, AND HOPEFULLY WE'RE GOING TO BE BREAKING GROUND AND GOING INTO THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE SOMETIME NEXT SUMMER. FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES, WE HAVE INCLUDED FUNDING FOR THE MOTOROLA CONSOLE UPGRADE, NEW AMBULANCES FOR THE 7TH UNIT, radio subscriber replacements, public safety network replacements, and additional personal protective gear and some other smaller projects. We've also committed over four years $5 million for the University of Maryland Regional Hospital, which is also under construction. Next year's allocation is $1.25 million to support the new regional hospital for the University of Maryland Medical Systems. Our housing authority, we've allocated 1.4 million for major repairs and maintenance for Fisher Manor, Riverside Estates, Graysonville Terrace, Terrapin Grove, of course Foxtown, and our scattered site housing stock. We have $835,000 allocated for the volunteer fire companies for funding for new apparatus and facility construction. For animal services, we've allocated $300,000 to design a new animal services shelter and adoption center. And for our roads division, we've got $3.1 million in mostly grant-funded dollars for the design and contract administration for a new pedestrian bridge crossing over US 5301, which would connect the South Island Trail and the Cross Island Trail. For our parks and recreation, we have funding for the continuation of the South Island Trail extension. uh... various capital equipment athletic field work major maintenance and field lighting for white marsh and bass neck parks at uh... two point nine million for the recreation is division we have funding for land acquisition design and contract development for a new recreation center under general services and engineering we have included funding for renovations of the historic courthouse and renovation to other county facilities information technology we have funding for it i t infrastructure and other technology projects for cyber security uh... efforts back to roads with included funding for obviously system preservation including uh... asphalt overlays in capital equipment at five million dollars next we have uh... are sewer water projects of the south can island sewer uh... project faces three and four the final two phases of that project five million dollars as an extension of uh... sewer public sewer down through date In Sellersville, we have $3 million for the wastewater treatment plant ENR improvements, and that will be completed this next year. That's a $3 million grant we received. And our next big sewer extension is to the communities of Marling Farms and Dominion. That is down on Maryland Route 552 in Chester. $500,000 for the planning and design efforts to get that project moving forward. All right, this slide shows the capital budget funding sources that we have available to us. I'll just highlight what they are. First, we talked about the PAYGO amount we're transferring over from the operations account, $4.4 million. We anticipate getting $8 million in grant funds for FY27. We have $30,800,000 in bond funds, $13.2 million in capital fund balance, We have some loans, primarily for our sanitary projects, for our sewer extensions, which are paid back with special benefit assessments from the users. And then we have some other funding sources that are derived from developer exactions and from other special benefit assessment projects that we have for our highway improvements. all right well that is the conclusion of the presentation so the commissioners can come on back up to the uh... to the front here if you wanna dig into the budget a little bit deeper every number all the accounts all the information that we have that we've put together spare these past several months is on our website here is the web link you can go to that at your leisure if you have questions you know feel free to reach out to uh... to us at any time about uh... any questions you may have we also have a uh... very nice uh... hand out here a budget booklet the back that has all the information that ice shared here on my presentation tonight along with some additional slides and uh... and things that uh... help to identify where the money's uh... being allocated for for the f white ones so we're ready to receive public comment uh... first up we have sarah skinner So come on up to the microphone. Please let us state your name and let us know where you reside, please.

Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Sarah Skinner and I live here in Southernsville. Good evening. My name is Sarah and I live here in Sellersville. I'm here today because I contacted the Board of Education by email seven days ago with these concerns and I have received no response. As a parent and a taxpayer, I am asking for your oversight regarding the Queen Anne's County Public Schools Food Service Program. At a time when this county is actively discussing funding, I believe it is critical that we also examine where the funding we have already provided and is going to provide for the system. The public deserves clarity on how resources are being used, especially in a program that directly affects children's health and daily well-being. Queen Anne's County Public Schools receives USDA reimbursement for every free breakfast served, and those funds come with strict federal nutrition requirements. Right now it is unclear whether those requirements are being met. First, the USDA reimbursement money, where is that money being allocated and is it being allocated where it should be? Has anyone independently reviewed how these funds are used and how is the district confirmed the compliance with these federal rules? Second, meal count reporting, is this accurate? Many breakfasts are returned uneaten, yet the district still receives payment. If returned meals are being counted as served, that is misuse of federal funds. Third, I encourage you to look at the meals being served. The quality, packaging, and presentation raise serious concerns. The Cinco de Mayo lunch photos circulating from an elementary school is not something most adults would choose to eat. Have you seen the sodium content? The meal alone was 1,364.102 milligrams of sodium. Fourth, nutrition analysis required every three years. When was the last time an analysis was completed and where are those results posted? Fifth, breakfast standards are not being followed. The district claims multiple fruit options are offered, yet my daughter's school juice is often the only option that I'm being told is given. Sixth, Queen Anne's County Public Schools will undergo a federal review in 26 and 27. Based on the current meal count, the district does not appear prepared. The district advertises benefits like improved test scores and behavior. Where is that data supporting those claims? SEVENTH, FAMILIES CANNOT FIND INFORMATION ABOUT NEW A LA CART ITEMS MENTIONED IN RECENT PRESENTATIONS. MEANWHILE, THE MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS ARE OFFERED SEVEN ENTRE CHOICES PLUS PIZZA, SALAD AND GRILLED ITEMS. DESPITE CLAIMS THAT THE DISTRICT CAN'T AFFORD BASIC IMPROVEMENTS, EXPANDED MENUS INCREASED WASTE AND STAFFING STREAM. Ninth, staffing shortages continue and shifts the three and a half to five hours for these people are not meaningful benefits being offered are not competitive. The click here to apply link doesn't even work and the job posting has been removed. Queen Anne's Public Schools is not listed as a participant in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Program for 25 and 26. This is a federally funded opportunity that aligns with the district's stated goals, despite noting Queen Anne's Public Schools does. Why after 30 years was Sodexo dropped? And we can't get a real answer as to why. If it's not broke, why fix it? Because of these concerns, I'm requesting a third-party independent audit of Queen Anne's County Public Schools food service operations spending, reporting, and compliance. Internal reviews are not enough. I also urge you to visit the schools unannounced and speak directly with the kitchen staff. They see the challenges every day. My own daughter often chooses a salad or peanut butter and jelly because the hot meals are unappealing. Some days she comes home hungry. Another unappetizing example is National Apple Pie Day. Students were served a doughnut cut in half with a sausage patty, fried apples, and whipped cream. That is not a nutritious meal for these students. Does someone even bother to review these menus? after regarding whole milk. The law requiring its availability was signed in in January of 2026. Saying it's too expensive is not acceptable. Are our children really too expensive? Finally, I must raise concerns about staffing treatment. Reports of mistreatment by those higher up does not align with the standards this district claims to uphold. I am advocating for my daughter, my son, who will soon be into the system, and every child who relies on school meals as a primary source of nutrition. Our children deserve better, and our Queen Anne's County Public Schools kitchen staff deserve better. Thank you.

Next we have Joe Gannon.

Good evening, commissioners. Mr. Mond. I want to start off with whoever did the presentation on this or your staff did an excellent job. It's very clear and simple and everything. Some in the past were so lengthy, you really couldn't catch on to everything. Whoever did it did a great job on that. Next thing, I want to thank the county commissioners for reducing our property tax rate, being the lowest in the state of Maryland. Really, thank you, thank you, thank you. And then the only final thing I got is there's some misinformation out there is how some people think that the county commissioners can control traffic in this county. That's farthest from the truth. People need to really research and look into some of these claims that are being made that are completely false. Thank you.

All right, next up we have Dr. Matt Kibler.

Good evening, Commissioners. Dr. Matthew Kibler, Superintendent, Queen Anne's County Public Schools. I want to thank you again for your support and the opportunity to speak tonight. Two weeks ago, one of our principals was recognized in Annapolis for outstanding leadership by the Lieutenant Governor. I asked staff to make a social media post about it. They told me I have to wait a couple days because they already had too many good things in the queue to share. Good things are happening every day in Queen Anne's County Public Schools. On Sunday, I attended a lunch where three of our students were recognized as Carson Scholars. Monday, before the budget hearing, I watched Ken Island High School biomedical students and engineering students make presentations on their capstone research project. last night i was at the ken island high school boys lacrosse state championship game tomorrow i'll be going to the american legion on ken island as they celebrate student essay contest winners and if that sounds exhausting that's just a few days this week and i could have attended even more events celebrating the accomplishments of our remarkable students if time allowed Whether it's academics, art, music, athletics, our students with the support of amazing teachers and staff are doing great things. Those opportunities are possible because of the generous support that you provide us and I thank you. As a first-year superintendent, I felt it was my responsibility to build a budget that first outlines what it costs to maintain the current program that we have, but also to responsibly identify areas of need where additional investment can improve the student experience and student outcomes. We are incredibly grateful that your current allocation allows us to maintain our current program. But I do want to specifically show where any additional funding would go. My plan, which was voted on and supported by the Board of Ed, is to seek to increase academic, behavioral, and mental health supports in our schools. Specifically, that would include academic specialists in all elementary and middle schools, early learning teachers focused on behavioral supports at schools with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, a behavioral and mental health support person for every secondary school, and two multi-school behavioral and mental health support staff members who would go school to school as needed on a day-to-day basis. We're grateful for your support. What you have allocated us is, once again, another year above maintenance of effort. And after multiple years of reductions, we are incredibly fortunate to be able to maintain our current programs and staffing. Still, I wanted you to know if there was room for anything more, where it would go. And that's directly back into the schools to support our students. I thank you all for your leadership and what you do for the students at Queen Anne's County Public Schools. Thanks, and I did want to share a personal note if I could too, just that was my script. But to go off script, I want to thank you guys for your support, Mr. Mon, as well. The relationship that we have, Board of Ed, Superintendent, is unlike anything else that happens in this state. Being a superintendent's not easy. No job in education is easy. I sit in a room with superintendents once or twice a month. And to hear the stories that go on in the state and dealing with their Board of Educations and their county councils and county executives. And just sit back and just so happy that all of you can pick up the phone and call me. I can call you and we can work on problems together. And I thank you. It's been a great first year and I'm looking forward to four more. Thanks.

Thank you.

Janice Salazar.

Good evening, commissioners. I'm Janet Salazar. I am the director of your public library. Tonight, I'm here to thank you once again for the library's funding. I appreciate that you have recognized the need for a branch in the northern part of our county. It is desperately needed. We also thank you for the full-time outreach position, which will allow us to strengthen our partnerships and create new connections. But tonight, mostly I want to thank you for the funding for our current staff. People come to the public library for many different things, access to books and materials and information, access to our computers and Wi-Fi and other equipment like copiers and 3D printers and laser engravers, things like that. Access to programs that delight and educate. Obviously, nobody can hear me. uh... and of course access to our very great meeting spaces but what keeps people coming back to the library is our staff our friendly faces our willingness to help our genuine interest in the people standing in front of us human interaction. As a recent story time, young participants said to the KI staff at the Kent Island branch, this is the best library in America. Our staff is what makes this the best library in America, and I thank you for your support of our staff. Thank you.

All right. Jay Falstead.

Good evening, commissioners. Jay Falstead, Queen Anne's Conservation Association. Thank you very much for the opportunity, and I'm glad you are up here in the North County. i just wanted to make one request for your consideration uh... as we all know there are more solar projects coming online uh... there's discussion about data centers and battery storage units which i hope don't come anytime soon but because of the volume of solar projects are coming online uh... Commissioner Moran was good enough to introduce legislation that brought forward a funding mechanism whereby we take some money from the solar companies and put it into land preservation. Right now that funding is up to $1 million per year, and I'm asking you to increase that to 2 million. It's a small part of the budget, less than 2% of the full budget, but the return on investment that we get in the county is substantial. One, there is a long list of farmers. eager, ready, and willing to enroll in that program. Secondly, Queen Anne's County residents love their open space. I think everybody in this room would attest to the fact that they love driving around and seeing the wide open spaces. It's what makes Queen Anne's County unique from a lot of other counties on the Eastern Shore. and so it's a it's a good investment and two it doesn't cost taxpayers anything other than the investment that we put into it because there are no services required to maintain farmland the farmer's already doing that so It's a good investment all the way around. It doesn't cost the county anything because we're getting some revenue from these solar companies already. And so because there's a greater volume of these things coming online, I hope you'll consider boosting that amount up. It's further important because the state has done a pretty good job lately of ravaging that funding. And so it's time for the county, if they can, to boost that up a little bit, and I hope you'll take that into consideration. Thank you very much for your service. I know it's a tough job, and I appreciate all that you do. Thank you.

And we have Coral Adams. Coral?

Good evening, gentlemen. Thank you for holding these, especially in all three major districts or parts of the county. I always appreciate that I can come here and speak to you in my hometown as opposed to having to go to Centerville or Ken Island. I'm coming today representing the Queen Anne's County Teachers Association. First and foremost, I would second what Dr. Kibler said. We absolutely want to thank you for funding the school system so that we can continue to deliver education and we can honor all of the contracts. fun on our end, or anyone's end, to have to fight for your job. I also want to thank Dr. Kibler for coming and representing the teachers tonight. And I would like to second most of what he said, but we appreciate that he did not ask us to come and speak on our own behalf, but that he came and spoke on our behalf. You guys have funded significantly over maintenance of effort for three years in a row. And it's been absolutely necessary to keep our school system functioning. But as a representative of the teachers, it would be a mischaracterization to pretend that the system that we have now is not a skeleton system. We are short staff in buildings. Class sizes have increased. BECAUSE STAFF HAS HAD TO BE SMALLER. WE DIDN'T HAVE TO LET ANY STAFF GO, WHICH IS EXCELLENT, BUT WE HAVE NOT FILLED AT THE SAME LEVEL OF ATTRITION. AND BECAUSE OF THAT, THERE'S HIGHER CLASS SIZES. WE'RE MISSING MOST OF OUR SPECIALISTS. BUILDINGS LIKE THIS BUILDING AND BOTH OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ON THIS END OF THE COUNTY THAT ARE TITLE I BUILDINGS STILL DON'T HAVE THE SPECIALISTS TO PROVIDE THE programs that students need in this county to close the reading gap and to close the math gap so that the students that I'm teaching here in this building have the same education and the same opportunity that the students on the island do. As a representative of the association, we recognize that our paychecks are the largest portion of your budget significantly. It's also the largest employer of local government so the board of ed employs more as your largest like we are your largest employer as a local government so it does make sense that it is a significant part of the budget because we represent the most of your employees Queen Anne's County, you guys presented a lot of numbers, and they're all very valid. But someone brought up on Monday that Queen Anne's County also has the highest income tax rate. Not the only one, we're not the only county with a 3.2% income tax rate, but we do, that is our current income tax rate. We, however, do not provide the same local per pupil funding that other counties with that same rate do. We're asking that as you move forward, the budget is always going to be difficult. The money coming from the state is going to be difficult. But we're asking that you're funding the same per pupil rate that other counties with the same income tax are. Like Anne Arundel County, or Talbot County is lower. My numbers were off on that. Because we don't think that it is. in the best interest of the students, of teachers, or of our schools when Maryland is sitting at one of the lowest per pupil funded in the state. Thank you very much for your time.

That's all we had signed up. Anybody else wish to speak this evening? Come on, once, twice. OK. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, Beth has one email comment that came in earlier this afternoon that she was going to read for us. So come on up, Beth. Thank you.

This is an email comment from Kirsten Boone. Dear County Commissioners, I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the continued loss of educational support staff in our schools, particularly math and reading specialists. Losing these positions has had a significant impact on students, teachers, and families. And over the last two years, I have personally witnessed the consequences firsthand at my daughter's school. In addition to losing math and reading specialists, the school also lost approximately one teacher per grade level. While I believe our teachers are doing the best they can under difficult circumstances, the larger class sizes combined with lack of support staff have created an environment where many students' individual academic needs are not being properly addressed. I became increasingly concerned during my daughter's first grade year that she was falling behind in reading. Unfortunately, many of my concerns were not fully heard or addressed because the classroom attention understandably shifted towards managing students with significant behavioral needs. My daughter who does not have behavioral issues was often placed in the back of the classroom and received very little individualized support. I do not place blame solely on teachers. I strongly believe that if teachers had more support, fewer overwhelmingly responsibilities and access to specialist communication with parents and early intervention for students would improve dramatically many teachers are frustrated and overextended and unfortunately families and students sometimes experience the effect of that strain Because my concerns were not heard or adequately addressed through the school system, I ultimately paid out of pocket for an outside assessment that insurance didn't cover. That assessment revealed my daughter had an eye tracking issue that severely impacts her ability to read. Had a reading specialist or other educational support professional been available to evaluate her earlier, this issue may have been identified last year, preventing the loss of valuable time and delaying necessary treatment. The only reason we eventually received answers was because her doctor became concerned during her physical this year and provided a referral to a specialist. Now our family is spending thousands of dollars this summer on treatments and therapy that could have started much sooner and potentially required less intensive intervention if appropriate school support services had been available. I am asking you to seriously reconsider the funding for our schools. Specialists are not extra. They are essential resources that help identify learning challenges early, support overwhelmed teachers, and ensure students do not fall through the cracks. As a local clinical social worker, I am also deeply aware of the growing mental health crisis affecting children. However, many children who struggle emotionally are also struggling academically. Low self-esteem, anxiety, bullying, and behavioral challenges often begin or worsen when students feel unsuccessful in the classroom and do not receive the support they need. Both mental health support and academic support are essential. One should not be prioritized at the expense of the other. Our children deserve better and our teachers deserve the support necessary to help every student succeed. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Kirsten Boone.

All right, thank you, Beth. One last opportunity, anybody else wish to speak this evening? Okay, thank you all. I'll turn it over to the commissioners.

uh... uh... uh... uh... that failed to bring up last night and actually uh... thank you jeff where we are for bringing this chart shed some light on part of what I was saying. So Queen Anne's County is the third lowest state funded in the state of Maryland out of 24 jurisdictions. The only two that are below us, one is Worcester County, who for most people may not know, Worcester County has a specialized tax down there that comes from the fact that they have a convention center. And their hotel and tourism tax goes to the school system, which If you've been to Ocean City lately and see all the high rises, you can imagine that's quite the boost to their education funding. And I already mentioned, Talbot County has a tax cap. They're allowed to supplant budget items to also raise their property tax to cover additional educational funding. Both are different situations than Queen Anne's. So we do get basically the lowest without any other recourse to get extra tax dollars from the state. So once again, unfortunately she left i was gonna advocate for the teachers to help us help you let's go to annapolis next year i'm all in we can stay for days uh... i go by there every day to work so it's not a big deal one other thing i wanted for the education uh... one thing that i call an off budget item is the fact that we have been it's it is up there uh... seven point nine million dollars of debt service for board of education projects which is an operational expense uh... doesn't show up in the port of ed budget but is part of the port of ed's budget uh... also off-budget from the Board of Ed is our school resource officers. They are paid for out of the sheriff's budget, which is roughly $1.7 million a year. And we also take care of all of the school fields through our Parks and Rec's department, which is also an additional $1.7 million. So roughly about $10.6 to $11 million additional dollars that don't appear in the board's budget. But it's just how it's done. It's not an excuse or anything else. It's just for informational purposes to know that. And to a lot of the comments about needing extra staff, I mentioned this last night. The whole collaborative time rollback is staff uh... whatever that staff may look like when it actually gets put in place whether it's extra teachers extra support staff that's all part of the blueprint which as i mentioned last night has not been put into place so we're trying to put this grand plan forward that we had all lined up how it had to go and just imagine if you pull that one cog out of the machine machine doesn't move so uh... again things the state has done that we are trying to work through and we work with the board of ed where we can to try to get to those numbers and our budget's not done we'll have our conversations we have other stuff to talk about so we'll see where it goes thank you he calls it number two number one i'm gonna let that go

Thank you all for coming out tonight. I just want to give a shout out to our great schools and our teachers and our administrators and we are the greatest county in the state of Maryland and it's just an honor to work with you and to be your county commissioner for three years that I've been on the board and I just feel beyond honored to be part of this. I would encourage, we are all on the mental health same page. The question is, what do we do about it? And I'm all ears, and I know these gentlemen are too. No set of commissioners in the state of Maryland have done more to try to help with mental health. I would encourage you, if you'd be kind enough, to go back to the Q&A from the first night at the Ken Island Library and listen, just listen to what we're dealing with. THE COMMISSIONERS CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH. THE SCHOOL CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH. WE NEED ANNAPOLIS. WE NEED THE DEMOCRAT PARTY IN LEADERSHIP TO HELP US WITH THE FINANCIAL SHORTFALLS THAT WE'RE HAVING. SO I ENCOURAGE YOU PLEASE TO GO BACK AND WATCH THE Q&A OF THAT. THANK YOU AGAIN ALL FOR COMING OUT TONIGHT.

I too want to thank some of you folks for being here this evening, the folks that showed up Tuesday, and the folks that showed up Monday. To hear from the citizens, This is a great opportunity to share the particular concerns that you have regarding all the things that the commissioners are responsible for when balancing and submitting a budget to the state of Annapolis. It's a difficult job. I'm not asking for anybody's sympathy, but understand that we have other avenues of government that we are responsible for funding, not just education. So it's a balancing act to make sure that it's done equitably for all departments because we have citizens and the county that count on programs that aren't necessarily directed to education. So it's a balancing act. I think our staff, Jeff Frank and his team in the finance department do a great job. They're great advisors. They paint. you know gloomy pictures sometimes for us to to make those difficult decisions so i just want to say again we appreciate everybody that came out these last three nights and i would be remiss if i didn't thank qac channel 7 george and his team for covering these last three nights to disseminate this information out to the folks that couldn't be here george thank you

um okay top that well i want to thank everybody that came out tonight the last night the night before just like phil said um i'm thinking back to eight years ago when i first became commissioner and we would have we would look at there's some people showed up not that many back then and the rooms were packed AND NOT WITH PEOPLE WHO WERE SAYING THANK YOU. THEY WERE NOT HAPPY. AND I REMEMBER ONE OF THOSE YEARS, I THINK WE WERE AT, WE WERE ON KENT ISLAND AND SOMEBODY ACTUALLY PASSED OUT IN THE AUDIENCE. AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS THE HEAT OR THE BUDGET. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS, BUT THEY PASSED OUT. THE ROOMS WERE FILLED BACK THEN, AND THERE WAS A LOT OF DIFFERENT ISSUES. AND WE'VE WORKED HARD TO TRY TO ADDRESS WHAT EVERYBODY WANTS, BUT THE CITIZENS HAVE WORKED HARD AS WELL. I MEAN, IT'S YOUR MONEY THAT'S GOING INTO THESE SERVICES, AND IT'S YOUR MONEY THAT'S ALLOWING US TO MAKE DECISIONS TO PUT ANOTHER AMBULANCE ON THE ROAD, TO DO AN EXPANSION TO THE LIBRARY, AND IT'S NOT easy decisions in deciding what thing to do or not but the sacrifices of the citizens and their hard-earned money that goes towards that that's not something that any of us take for granted so i want to make sure that we thank you all uh for that as well because it's it's a community effort and the reason this is the best county in maryland like patrick says is because we have the best citizens who are looking out for each other and so i just Thank you all for your trust and confidence in us. And I hope when you look around, you're really proud of the county that you all have helped create. Because we're up here. We're doing some stuff. But you guys are out there doing more, volunteering in the community, being good parents, being good neighbors. So thank you all for that.

Can't say it any better than that. So with that, I'll take a motion.

I make a motion to adjourn. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Thank you very much.