What was the budget gap following the County Council approving their budget?

Following the County Executive’s amendment and County Council’s approval, the net budget gap has been reduced but not eliminated. Earlier this month, County Executive, Calvin Ball, committed $14.5 million additional dollars to our budget using a provision in the County Charter that will allow PAYGO funds to be used for recurring expenses and be included in next year’s Maintenance of Effort calculation. This amendment was approved by the County Council.

The updated total shortfall now stands at $40.5 million dollars between the Board of Education’s requested budget and the final county appropriation, and $15.3 million dollars to cover existing service commitments and negotiated agreements with our employee associations. However, current fiscal realities require staff to make two recommendations to the Board that would add $5.1 million to our funding needs, resulting in an updated gap of $20.4 million dollars.