$2.16B Historic Budget Approved By Howard County Council With Education Spending Increase

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The county's historic $2.16 billion fiscal year 2024 budget has been unanimously approved by the Howard County Council.

The spending plan contains historic funding increases for public education, as well as major investments in public safety, health care services, housing, transportation and economic development.

"Our bold, yet prudent investments will advance critical projects to deliver an excellent quality of life for all to live, work, play and grow in Howard County. These efforts help maintain Howard County’s position as one of the best managed jurisdictions in the nation, as illustrated once again by our AAA bond rating. Due to our sustained fiscal discipline, we are making historic progress in education, public safety, transportation and more to build a better future for all in Howard County," Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said after the council's approval.

Education

The FY24 operating budget funds a record $1.1 billion for the Howard County Public School System. This is the second consecutive year total HCPSS general fund funding has exceeded $1 billion. The increase of $47 million in recurring county funding is the highest county increase to HCPSS in Howard County history and represents a landmark seven percent increase over FY23.

County funding for HCPSS will be $71.6 million above the minimum standard of Maintenance of Effort set by the State. Ball’s record investment in education is despite declines in enrollment that have persisted since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget also includes $46.4 million to fully fund the negotiated salary increases for educators and school personnel. An additional $7.5 million has been earmarked for other post-employment benefit contributions to meet retiree health benefits of school employees.

There's $2.5 million allocated in the budget to fully fund the opening of the new Guilford Park High School with 42 new full time employees. Guilford Park is the county’s first new high school since 2005 and will open its doors to students in August.

The budget includes $22 million in state pass-through funding to renovate the Faulkner Ridge Center to expand universal pre-kindergarten services. When completed, the center will create 260 new seats for universal pre-kindergarten in Howard County.

The capital budget includes $13 million in state pass-through funding to renovate and expand the HCPSS Applications and Research Laboratory, which is Howard County’s Career and Technical High School. The renovation and expansion will help the school system reduce the waitlist at ARL and accommodate more students, Ball noted.

The FY24 county operating budget includes $2 million in operating funding for Howard Community College, which is the second highest increase in at least 15 years. Ball also collaborated with the Council and community college to file a budget amendment to invest an additional $1 million to assist HCC in advancing its design work for a new Workforce Development and Trades Center in the upcoming fiscal year, which will supplement the $4.3 million HCC has already committed to the project’s design.

An additional $13.3 million in county funding will go toward the mathematics and athletics complex at HCC.

Howard County Library System

The approved FY24 operating budget includes $1.2 million for the Howard County Library System, which is the second largest increase in at least 15 years. The budget also includes $5 million in state funding to advance conceptual design and potential uses for the proposed Lakefront Library project in Downtown Columbia.

Safe Communities

The approved FY24 budget includes an increase of $8.6 million for the Howard County Police Department, which will provide salary adjustments and increased safety investments for communities. Additionally, $175,000 will go toward storage of digital evidence to preserve the integrity of evidence, a move that helps meet federal and state media storage laws.

Funding also calls for $2.4 million to create 26 new firefighter trainee positions with the county's department of fire and rescue services, which will help reduce overtime costs, alleviate personnel fatigue and generate savings, Ball noted.

Healthy Residents

The approved budget contains an additional $1.7 million to providing access to prenatal and maternal healthcare for uninsured and underinsured mothers. Also, a combined $2.5 million in funding will improve and expand behavioral and mental health services in the county with $1 million in funding supporting investments in the behavioral health unit at Howard County General Hospital, expanding the unit to create 24 additional beds.

Another $1 million has been allocated for Sheppard Pratt, which will establish a new 16-bed residential crisis program to help county residents in crisis avoid higher levels of care such as emergency departments or inpatient units.

Lastly, $500,000 was approved for Tuerk House for the creation of a new residential treatment facility in Highland primarily for pregnant women and women with children.

Business and Nonprofits Support

The FY24 approved budget includes $400,000 to launch the county’s first-ever disparity study to identify opportunity gaps in the county’s procurement process with minority-owned, woman-owned and disabled-owned local businesses.

The approved budget also prioritizes support for local businesses through the continuation of $2 million in funding for pandemic relief efforts, including funds for potential federal and state grant match opportunities.

The budget allocates $500,000 for Transform Howard Innovation Grants, which will provide local non-profits with an opportunity to design and implement forward thinking, emerging and creative ideas to help them better serve county residents.

The approved budget sets aside $250,000 in funding for an agricultural grant pilot program to help local farmers increase opportunities that will benefit residents and increase access to locally grown fresh produce.

Housing

This approved spending plan includes an historic $6.5 million for the county’s homeownership and housing rehabilitation programs, which will expand opportunities for more households in the county.

Additionally, $1 million is dedicated to Rental Assistance to help more residents remain safely and stably housed. These investments will ensure that more Howard County residents can gain access to safe, stable, and affordable housing opportunities.

Transportation

As Howard County was recently lauded for its Complete Streets policy, recognized as the best policy in the nation, the budget includes $13.2 million for Complete Streets projects in the approved capital budget. The budget represents an increase of $5 million over FY23 for multimodal transportation projects.

This investment includes funding for the Rogers Avenue Complete Streets Project, the Dobbin Road Multiuse Pathway, Guilford Road bike and pedestrian improvements, safety improvements on Route One and more than two dozen additional transportation projects that improve safety and access in Howard County.

The spending plan transfers $12.8 million in one-time PAYGO funds to the capital budget to address critical road resurfacing needs and preventative maintenance. This is the second largest investment in the past decade to support the ongoing road resurfacing needs for 1,080 miles of county roads. The approved budget includes a dedicated $150,000 to expand bus service in Elkridge, as well.

Environment

The approved spending plan includes $500,000 that will go toward the Purchased Conservation Easement Pilot Program in partnership with the Howard County Conservancy. This program provides a new mechanism to preserve environmentally valuable nonprofit-owned land for Howard County's future.

In addition, $150,000 was approved to support implementation for activities that have been identified in Howard County’s Climate Action Plan, such as increasing educational awareness and environmental stewardship, implementing energy saving initiatives that will have long-term benefits to Howard County, and launching actions that will reduce Howard County’s carbon footprint.

The budget also prioritizes $100,000 to update Howard County’s Green Infrastructure Network maps. The GIN shows the most ecologically valuable forests, wet­lands, meadows, waterways and other natural areas as well as the lands that connect them together. GIN maps provide information that will help increase native plant and animal species.

Cybersecurity

The FY24 operating budget includes $600,000 to create five new technology positions to help protect the county against ransomware and other cybersecurity threats. These positions will collect and analyze data.