Harford County, MD FY 24 Proposed Capital Budget & Capital Improvement Program

JANUARY

The Board of Education approves the Public School System’s Capital Budget and it is submitted to the County Executive via the County Budget Office.

Harford Community College’s Capital Budget is approved by their Board of Trustees, and it is submitted to the County Executive via the County Budget Office.

The County Capital Budget is further amended to incorporate the School Board and the College’s approved budget requests.

The County Executive conducts hearings with each County department that submits a capital request, as well as with Public School, College and Library administrators. During these hearings, each project is discussed, and any questions are answered. If a project has been eliminated from the County’s plan or amended from the original request, an appeal can be made for restoration.

A public hearing is held to secure citizen input on both the Operating and Capital Budgets.

FEBRUARY

Once revenue estimates are revisited, both Operating and Capital Budget issues are reviewed by the County Executive, the Director of Administration, the Budget Office, and the County Treasurer. The County Executive then makes his final decisions as to which projects he will propose for the upcoming fiscal year and for the subsequent five fiscal years. The County Executive also determines the amount of funding each project will receive.

LATE FEBRUARY THROUGH LATE MARCH

The Budget Office finalizes all Operating and Capital Budget documents, and prepares the legislation necessary to send the County Executive’s Proposed Budgets to the County Council. APRIL 15 The Harford County Charter requires the Proposed Operating and Capital Budgets to be submitted by the County Executive to the County Council by April 15th of each year. APRIL THROUGH MAY

The County Council conducts budget hearings with County departments, the Board of Education, Harford Community College, and the Libraries.

By Charter requirement, the County Council must hold two public hearings on the Operating and Capital Budgets to secure citizen input.

The Council may cut funding from any County capital project, and they may reallocate those funds to a Board of Education capital project. The Council cannot, however, adjust revenue estimates, and cannot add another Board of Education project or increase funding for any Board of Education project without identifying the additional revenues to support such a change.

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