FY 27 Proposed Operating Budget

· The county arranged for Andy Bauer the vice president and regional executive

for the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond to engage in

an open dialogue with the members of the committee regarding the regional

economy.

B. Selected Method - Further Qualifications

The Committee reviewed, in detail, revenue estimates for the property tax and the local

income tax. Collectively, property and income tax collections represent approximately 87.0% of the

total General Fund revenues to the county. The committee reviewed historical data, analyzed trends,

and forecasted revenues for both FY 2026 and FY 2027 from these two revenue sources.

Due to a lack of historical patterns, the committee presumed no significant changes in other

revenue sources, such as licensing, permits, and miscellaneous fees, or in miscellaneous State funding,

such as police or law enforcement aid.

The Committee also reviewed the FY 2026 General Fund Budget as a necessary step in

carrying out its charge to recommend a FY 2027 spending level. It was necessary to adjust the FY

2026 General Fund Budget to reflect the reduction of the appropriated fund balance and other one

time revenues equal to $50.6 million. Our approach has been to estimate annual recurring revenue;

therefore, we are continuing the historical adjustment to exclude non-recurring sources of funds. This

adjustment yielded an Adjusted FY 2026 General Fund Budget of $766.0 million.

C. Debt Authorization

The committee has reviewed the county's Debt Management Policy dated April 13, 2010. The

Debt Management Policy includes a discussion of strategic capital planning and sets overall objectives

for issuance of debt and debt service loads. The committee concurs in those objectives and the

reasoning set forth in the Debt Management Policy and considers the objectives both reasonable and

conservative. The committee seeks to offer the county some guidance on this topic, and our general

impressions as to the level of debt contemplated by the plan. We do not intend to give advice to the

county on the highly technical subject of debt issuance and structure. As detailed in the policy, the

county will engage qualified financial advisors, bond counsel, and bond underwriters to give them

advice on the issuance and structure of the c ounty’s debt.

The committee reviewed the Debt Affordability Ratios provided by the Debt Management

Policy and their impact on the expected debt level in FY 2026 Budgeted and FY 2027 Projected:

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