The Anne Arundel County Council passed County Executive Steuart Pittman’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget in a bipartisan 6-1 vote today. Chair Lisa Rodvien, and Councilmembers Andrew Pruski, Sarah Lacey, Allison Pickard, Nathan Volke, and Amanda Fiedler voted in support of lowering taxes while providing record investments in education, public safety, and recreation and parks. Through supplemental amendments, the budget also includes hiring and retention bonuses for school bus drivers and crossing guards, as well as one-time pay equity funding for Anne Arundel Community College faculty and staff.
“In the midst of partisan conflict in Washington, growing economic hardship across the country, and attacks on the basic institutions of government, here in Anne Arundel County we showed today that our two political parties are able to come together and support a budget that delivers the services that our residents depend on,” said County Executive Steuart Pittman. “Delivering a bipartisan budget, just three months after receiving our first-ever Triple-A bond rating from Moody’s, sends a strong signal to our residents that we can and will move forward together – united to make our county the best place for all.”
The FY23 budget includes a tax cut that lowers the income tax rate on the first $50,000 of taxable income for every taxpayer while setting the property tax rate further below the cap than ever in county history. The budget will grow the County’s rainy day fund while reducing borrowing and eliminating the structural deficit created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This budget provides a fiscally responsible approach to providing government services – cutting taxes while making sure our police and firefighters have the tools they need to keep us safe,” District 3 Councilmember Nathan Volke said.
The FY23 budget fully funds the Board of Education’s capital budget request for the first time in county history, while restoring back step increases and fully funding the Board’s request for pay increases for all teachers and staff. Through supplemental amendments, the county will provide funding for hiring and retention bonuses for school bus drivers and crossing guards, as well as one-time pay equity funding for Anne Arundel Community College.
“This budget provides a balanced approach and needed investment in our schools, infrastructure, and public safety,” District 4 Councilmember and Council Vice Chair Andrew Pruski said. “The County Council came together with the County Executive to pass a budget that helps Anne Arundel invest in our future.”
The budget will fully fund the County’s obligations under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, while setting a new county record of providing $50 million more than the state maintenance of effort requirement. The budget also adds new positions, including:
- 119 new special education positions
- 29 new social/emotional learning positions
- 48 new pre-k positions to convert half-day programs to full-day pre-k classrooms
- 20 new English language development positions
- 3 new bilingual facilitators
- 140 new classroom teacher positions, including the final year of staffing required to fully open Crofton High School
“This budget puts people and critical services first, while continuing the program of key infrastructure investments that we began three budgets ago,” District 1 Councilmember Sarah Lacey said. “It’s still true that our County has a lot of competing needs that can’t all be met at once. But some folks have been waiting a very long time for improvements to their schools, public safety and recreation resources, sidewalks and community centers. This budget delivers.”
The FY23 budget provides money for the design and construction of a new 911 Call Center, which will combine police and fire call takers into a single, unified operation under the Office of Emergency Management. To support public safety efforts, the budget will replace the dilapidated firing range, while funding a new forensics facility and a new special operations facility, and 55 new vehicles for officers.
“I was very pleased to vote in favor of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget today. It is a culmination of four years of bold and responsible budgeting that delivers much needed investment across local government that will impact our County for generations to come,” District 2 Councilmember Allison Pickard said. “District 2 benefits from investment in roads and parks and especially in school construction with the Old Mill Complex Master Plan underway. This budget also represents a critical investment in our County employees to ensure we can deliver fundamental County services.”
The county’s FY23 budget includes two new parks – Tanyard Springs and South Shore – alongside major investments in Bacon Ridge at Forney, Odenton Library Park, Deale, and the new Brooklyn Park Center, plus water access site improvements totaling $7.8 million in investments. The budget also provides $3.5 million to restore a building on the campus of the future Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park, to allow the building to become the Crownsville Health and Wellness Center, an incubator that will house emerging nonprofits, offer services to residents of the treatment centers operating nearby, and be a temporary home for the county team that will manage the restoration of the site.
“I am thrilled to be a part of the FY23 County Budget that makes historic commitments to so many important county priorities. This budget moves us forward by making significant investments in our public employees such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters at a time when hiring has become more challenging in nearly all sectors,” District 6 Councilmember and Council Chair Lisa Rodiven said. “We are investing in public transit and making our buses fare free. We have included new mechanisms to increase the availability of housing that is affordable and accomplished all of these priorities while maintaining the lowest property and income tax in our region. For District 6, I am especially thrilled that green heart of our county – the Crownsville State Hospital Center – will finally belong to Anne Arundel County and its residents.”
