Budget

County spending must be rational, reasonable and truly needed. We must review current programs and spending before adding new ones.

The current County Operating Budget is laced with unnecessary spending. The Capital Budget is biased toward areas in which the County Executive and County Council live, and unnecessary projects.  The County Executive and County Council continue to spend more than our neighbors on operations, thereby placing continuous upward pressure on taxation burdens.

Meanwhile, other jurisdictions in the region have been able to reduce property tax rates as a result of increases in their assessable bases and revenue. A focus on multi-year fiscal planning and on growing the assessable base will help reduce tax burdens over time, though doing so may require the County to make difficult budgetary decisions.