Calvert County Government’s plan to leave the current real estate tax rate at $.89 per $100 of assessed value is not sitting well with several residents who are feeling the pinch of an erratic economy.

“It’s time to pull in your belt like we do,� Melroy Quasney of St. Leonard told the Calvert Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) at the May 20 hearing on the fiscal year (FY) 2009 operating budget.

The BOCC’s budget plan as presented totals $221,355,955, a 7.4 percent increase over the current fiscal year’s plan. The additional $15.2 million includes a nearly 7 percent increase for Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) and an 8 percent increase for county government operations.

Unlike the plan staff presented to the BOCC earlier this year, the current budget proposal is balanced and will require no use of reserves. Department of Finance and Budget Deputy Director Tammy McCourt said after the hearing that the BOCC made some adjustments in expenditures and used the school excise tax fund balance to offset the increased general fund school debt service.

On the revenue side, by leaving the real estate tax rate at $.89 per $100 of assessed value, the levy would yield an additional 11 percent from FY 2008. Reducing the rate to $.80 would yield the same revenue as last year.

Property tax revenues provide 40 percent of the county’s budgeted revenues. In FY 2009, the revenues are projected at $124 million.

“Why do you need all this money?� Jason Scaggs of Owings asked. “Where’s it going? The [property tax] assessment thing is getting so bad.�

“I would like to stay in my home in Calvert County,� said Eileen Hadley of Lusby. “I’m just startled at the increase. Maybe they should take a harder look at the budget and cut back where they should cut back.�

Before Commissioners’ President Wilson H. Parran [D] could adjourn the hearing, Quasney stood up and suggested the commissioners poll the citizens to see what government services they would be willing to give up.

“They don’t want to listen to people,� said Quasney after the hearing.

During his remarks, Parran explained that the additional funding was being directed toward an “educational partnership.� The board president explained the additional $5.2 million in county funds for CCPS is the result of a negotiated funding formula.

“We’ve been able to take the issue of funding education off the table,� said Parran.

Education remains the county’s top budget expenditure, with $100,656,137 designated in the proposed budget.

Other areas of increase include public safety, with additional hires for the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and detention center planned, along with additional funds for the all-volunteer fire and rescue service. The public safety component of the spending plan will add $2.3 million from the current fiscal year, a 10.3 percent increase.

Parran also indicated Calvert is getting ahead of the curve in addressing new accounting standards for county government’s and the public school’s retirees’ benefits. The county is entering the second year of its plan to eventually absorb the benefits’ cost within the budget.

Parran and the other commissioners who spoke privately with concerned citizens after the public hearing at Calvert Pines Senior Center reminded them the county is planning for $13.5 million in anticipated Homestead credits in FY 2009. The Homestead and Homeowner Tax Credit programs are designed to aid homeowners whose annual household income is $60,000 or below.

“I know how much their taxes increase each year,� said Commissioner Gerald W. “Jerry� Clark [R], who added he hoped that in FY 2010 the county could lower its current 10 percent cap on property taxes to 4 or 5 percent.

“This year we can’t do it,� said Clark.

E-mail Marty Madden at editorial@calvertindependent.com.