Carroll County Requests Funding From State For Schools

From Carroll BCC: The Carroll County Board of Commissioners (BCC) recently sent different but similar letters to Governor Larry Hogan and the Carroll County Delegation imploring them to provide additional funding to bridge the funding gap to the Carroll County Board of Education (BOE) in Fiscal Year 19.

The Board of Education budget is influenced by three entities; the BCC, the BOE and the State of Maryland. The letter addressed the projected $12 million year-over-year deficit by discussing how the BCC already promised an additional $4 million to education funding and cannot fund any additional increase with its current expected revenue. The BOE is actively pursuing cost reduction and streamlining initiatives to economize their budget. The BCC is relying on the third avenue, the Carroll County Delegation and Governor Hogan, to fight for additional funding from the State of Maryland to reduce the budget shortfall.

The letters also included a recent budget analysis highlighting trends in the education funding over the previous ten years. The analysis emphasizes the significant decrease in education funding from Annapolis. The analysis shows state funding for education reduced from 47.08 % to 39.32%, which in dollar amounts, equates to a cumulative decrease of more than $7.7 million. The BCC would like to see this number return to at least 45% incrementally over the next several years.

The letters end with the BCC asking for funding assistance from Governor Hogan and reminding the Delegation that the citizens are relying on them to be the advocates who bring more funding to Carroll County.

The State of Maryland 2018 Legislative Session convenes in Annapolis, Maryland January 10 to April 9, 2018.

Image Courtesy of Carroll BCC