Reminder: County Budget Public Hearing Tonight at Carroll Community College

The board of Carroll County Commissioners is hosting a public hearing this evening to hear feedback from the community on the proposed fiscal year 2014 county budget. 

Last week local organizations and nonprofits put the call out for citizens to attend the public hearing and voice their concerns about the budget. Several nonprofits who will see a three percent cut in the proposed budget, including Human Service Programs of Carroll County (HSP) and the Rape Crisis Center, sent emails asking for support as they advocate for level funding. 

"Please provide flat funding to all eleven of the nonprofits who provide direct services in our community," The Rape Crisis Center wrote in an email to community members. "At $88,000, it is a small price to pay to ensure a multitude of services are continued for our community, and our neighbors."

At 5:30 p.m. today, members of the Carroll County Education Association (CCEA) and the Carroll Association of School Employees (CASE) along with citizens will host a gathering at Robert Moton Elementary School for a street-side demonstration before going to the public hearing at the community college. 

The board of commissioners voted 3-2 to fund Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) at $163.5 million, with an additional $500,000 coming from the Board of Education's fund balance to total $164 million. This is $3.1 million less than the $166.6 million requested by the Board of Education for 2014.

"This budget, is far less funding than the Board of Education has requested to maintain the quality of our schools," said CCEA President Ted Payne in a statement. "And to make it worse, the county has more than enough money to fund the BOE's budget request. Instead of listening to the community, our commissioners are funding their unrequested pet projects at the expense of our schools." 

The proposed county budget is $486,447,131—a 0.87 percent increase over the current budget.

Board of Commissioner President Doug Howard did not respond to a request for comment about the education budget. 

The public budget hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight, May 6, at the Scott Center at Carroll Community College. 

See Also:

• Citizens Demand Full Funding of Education Budget at Commissioner's Forum
• School Superintendent Lays Out More Budget Cuts
• Carroll County Commissioners Vote Unanimously to Cut Taxes in FY14
• Carroll County Commissioners Vote to Keep Money for Employee Raises in New Budget