Baltimore County Council passes $4.78 billion fiscal 2026 budget

Natalie Jones

The Baltimore Sun

May 22, 2025

The Baltimore County Council passed a $4.78 billion fiscal 2026 budget Thursday that aims to prepare the county for future fiscal challenges at the state and federal levels.

The council voted unanimously to adopt County Executive Kathy Klausmeier’s budget with only one amendment — a $6.6 million cut from the capital budget for a planned renovation to the Rocky Point Golf Course clubhouse.

The county’s spending plan also includes millions of dollars in funding for improvements to some schools and county buildings, as well as modest cost-of-living pay increases for firefighters, police and county employees. It does not call for any tax increases.

The budget is a “steady, responsible approach” to prepare the county for future uncertainty, Council Chair Mike Ertel, a Towson Democrat, said during his Thursday budget message.

Approval of the budget comes just days after Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, signed the state budget and its companion bill, which the General Assembly passed during a tumultuous budget season.

“Indeed, the actions of the federal government over the past four months have been intentional,” Ertel said, “and at the state level, the former administration blames the current one and the current administration blames the former one for decisions that have led to budget deficits.”

Klausmeier, who served in the state legislature for 30 years, emphasized during her April budget address the challenges brought by both state and federal funding cuts.

“This uncertain budget season has presented unique challenges, and I am proud Baltimore County is working to overcome these challenges with a responsible, commonsense budget that delivers uninterrupted County services without raising taxes for our residents,” she said in a statement following the budget passage.

Ertel also touted the county’s AAA bond ratings from Moody’s Investor Service, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. Moody’s downgraded Maryland’s rating earlier this month.

The fiscal year 2026 budget sets aside $1.1 billion of its general fund for Baltimore County Public Schools. The number is above the state-mandated maintenance of effort and did not change from Klausmeier’s proposal, but still falls below the district’s original request.

The council has the authority only to cut, not add or reallocate, budget items.

During budget deliberations last week, the council debated but ultimately struck down an amendment that would have urged the school system to make every effort to fulfill the three-year compensation agreement and withheld $15 million from the district until it provided the council with a report on salaries, turnover savings and vacancies.

“I hope our message to BCPS is clear — that it needs to find the funding to honor the expected salary increases to the greatest extent it can,” Ertel said Thursday.

The school district has been working to adjust its budget. In April, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said she would reopen negotiations for compensation increases with all five union bargaining units, to the frustration of the county’s teachers union.

The Teachers Association of Baltimore County has pushed the county to fund the second year of the union’s three-year compensation agreement, but funding that alone would cost nearly $56 million.

Earlier this month, Rogers said in a statement that she had “confirmed with state and county officials that there are additional funds available” for the school district for fiscal 2026, adding that the funding would be used for employee compensation.

However, the capital budget allocates $358 million to the school system for a planned addition to Patapsco High School and replacements of Scotts Branch Elementary, Dulaney High School and Towson High School.

The budget gives a 3% midyear cost-of-living adjustment for fire and police personnel, as well as a 2% midyear cost-of-living increase for county employees.

The capital budget provides funding for a number of projects, including the Randallstown Library, the North County and Jacksonville senior centers, replacement of the Baltimore County Police Department precinct in Essex and a new fire station in Sparrows Point.

The budget is $92,000 below the Spending Affordability Committee’s guideline, Ertel said, and the council approved a projected rainy day fund of $275 million.

Councilman Wade Kach, a Lutherville-Timonium Republican, noted the council’s ability to work together through political differences, comparing the legislative body’s work to the “fighting back and forth” in Washington.

“You see up here four members of the Democratic party, three members of the Republican party and you see a nonpartisan County Council that works together on every issue without party affiliation being in the way,” he said.