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“We beg you to pull out a pencil and make some changes,” Hurlock Council President Earl Murphy Jr. said at the Dorchester County Council meeting May 6.

During the standing-room-only meeting, the council heard from municipal leaders as well as residents about their concerns with the state of the draft budget.

Concerns largely centered on a proposal in the county’s draft budget to remove tax differentials, or lower property tax rates, for Cambridge and Hurlock residents. The proposal was one of multiple tax increases suggested in an effort to address a $6.2 million deficit.

The differentials aim to address services paid for by the municipalities instead of the county.

In the current fiscal year, Cambridge residents pay the county 92.67 cents per $100 of assessed valuation of property. Hurlock residents pay 91.79 cents per $100 of assessed value. If the differential is removed, these residents will pay the county’s proposed rate of $1.03 per $100 of assessed value.

At the meeting May 6, Cambridge Mayor Lajan Cephas said the removal of the tax differential would only be acceptable if the county planned to provide the services to Cambridge and Hurlock residents that the municipalities currently provide.

“Let’s be real, the county does not have the capacity to fulfill these necessary service needs,” she said. “Therefore, why remove the differential?”

Cephas proposed the county should instead take out a loan on its reserve fund and pave three less miles of roads in fiscal year 2026. She said doing this would save the county enough money to keep the differentials.

Hurlock Town Manager John Avery suggested keeping the tax differentials in place and imposing a higher tax across the county. He said that would be more equitable.

Cephas also mentioned an idea to create a Dorchester County Revenue Options Task Force. She said those in the task force would be charged with locating potential additional revenue streams. She said she would sign up to be on the task force if it was created.

“A loss for Dorchester County is a loss for Cambridge,” she said. “And we’re in this battle with you.”

In an interview May 7, Hurlock Mayor the Rev. Charles Cephas said the duty of elected officials is to make life better for their constituents. He said with other financial concerns like inflation, the removal of the tax differential could be devastating for residents.

Charles Cephas said after the county meeting, he is still “very concerned” and “very wary” the county’s budget difficulties will be an annual issue. “And the residents are unable to financially support this type of increase,” he said.

In recent months, the county’s budget woes have created an atmosphere of concern, frustration and, at times, despair during meetings. The council has said its budget problems have largely been brought on by cost shifts from the state.

Former Cambridge Mayor Cleveland Rippons argued the county is doing the same thing to its residents that the state is doing to the county with cost shifts.

“Is that not the same?” he asked.

At the end of the meeting, Dorchester County Council President Lenny Pfeffer said the council hears what everyone is saying and understands this is hard for residents.

“We lose sleep over this,” he said. “Everybody says that we don’t care. We do care.”

Pfeffer said the council has made efforts to address budget problems without raising taxes, but those efforts have not been fruitful.

“If we don’t pay the bills, they’ll withhold our income tax,” he said about the state. “That is why this is so hard for us to deal with.”

The Dorchester County Council will hold its next budget public hearing May 13 at 6 p.m. The final budget hearing and budget adoption is slated for May 20. Pfeffer said the council cannot make any changes to the draft budget until after the next public hearing on May 13.