Harford County, Maryland FY 24 Proposed Operating Budget

In discharging its responsibilities pursuant to the Executive Order, the Committee was cognizant of the need for a Report which, when based purely upon the consensus findings and conclusions of the Committee, would be used as a tool by Harford County Government in assisting the budgeting as well as other processes. The resulting methodology is similar to that which has historically been utilized to predict anticipated revenue growth. The Committee primarily used publicly available data with realistic and recognized methodology in its analysis. II. Methodology and Background A. Methodology, Background and Data Studied Since its inception in 1992, the Committee has been reporting under the County's Executive Order creating the Committee. We were very fortunate that the composition of the Committee consisted of four returning members and two new members, who worked well together to meet this task with a broad base of relevant experience. In addition, the County Treasury and Budget staffs are familiar with the Committee’s process and are able to provide relevant guidance. Therefore, we were able to focus all our efforts on our primary charges. Over the years of operation, the Committee has formulated a methodology for adopting a guideline of the percentage increase in spending affordability for the County. The Committee again decided to follow the traditional "budget based" estimate of spending affordability. That is, estimating a level of revenue that will become available, through the collection of taxes and fees, assuming no increase in applicable rates not already enacted or announced. This approach contrasts methodologies adopted by certain other jurisdictions which are typically defined as estimating spending levels tied to citizens' ability to pay for additional services. The Committee had no preconceived intentions as to the findings or recommendations contained herein.

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