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Tuesday鈥檚 proposal is balanced at around $2 million below last year鈥檚 total budget.

鈥淭his year, you are introducing a budget that is flat from last year at this point in time, which was a hard task, and I commend you for doing that,鈥� County Manager Clay Stamp told County Council members.

Three fiscal years ago, the county鈥檚 budget was $112 million before it rose to $128 million one year later and $163 million last year. The county is continuing to focus on building a stable fund reserve, an effort that has peaked in the last three years, Stamp said.

In addition to smoothing out recent hikes, Stamp said this year鈥檚 budget considers threats it faces from federal and state government spending cuts.

鈥淭here鈥檚 some severe federal policy shifts going on right now,鈥� Stamp said. 鈥淭he state of Maryland is passing funding obligations down to (county) governments.鈥�

One obligation Talbot County will assume, pending an amendment to the proposed budget, is $440,000 in teachers鈥� pension payments. Finance Director Martha Sparks noted the county worked with state legislators to add language to the law 鈥渋n the eleventh hour鈥� during this year鈥檚 General Assembly.

Talbot County would cover that $440,000 through an education supplement tax. The supplement to the property tax would be less than half a cent per $100 of assessed value.

Overall, the real property tax rate is proposed at 79 cents per $100 of assessed value, nearly even with last year鈥檚 total rate. The tax bill on a home valued at $300,000 would increase by $4.80 from last year, county officials said.

The county will bring in a projected $67 million in property tax revenue in fiscal year 2026, up from $60 million last year (not including the education supplement tax). That鈥檚 a 12.3% increase, which stems from rising property value reassessments.

鈥滱s undesirable as it is to raise taxes, our tax increases by our charter鈥檚 design are moderate increases and are reflected in our standing as the county with the lowest property tax rate in the state of Maryland,鈥� Sparks said.

The proposed budget includes $55 million in funding for Talbot County Public Schools, a mark required by the state鈥檚 funding plans in its expansive education initiative, The Blueprint for Maryland鈥檚 Future.

The county did not include the district鈥檚 request for $5.7 million in additional funding to help with teacher salary increases and new positions, among other requests. Vice President Pete Lesher urged the council to do so at a previous workshop, but the rest of the council opted to hold off. The budget ordinance could be amended to include some or all of that request.

Stamp said despite the flattened budget, capital upgrades aren鈥檛 stalling. He pointed to projects such as the St. Michaels library branch upgrade, moving the county鈥檚 public safety complex and continuing renovations at Chapel District Elementary School.

Sparks noted the county is in a 鈥渉ealthy financial position鈥� thanks to fiscal year 2025 revenues exceeding projections by around $8 million. The added revenue is largely due to income tax distributions from the state coming in higher than expected, Sparks said.

A similar situation with the income tax revenue isn鈥檛 a guarantee for next fiscal year, she said.

Tax hikes to the state鈥檚 most wealthy, part of Gov. Wes Moore鈥檚 plan to close an over $3 billion state budget deficit, were enacted by the General Assembly this month. Those increases could drive wealthy residents out of Talbot County to surrounding states and reduce income tax revenue, county officials say.

鈥漈he last time this type of tax was implemented, Talbot County鈥檚 income tax revenues decreased by 40% within one year,鈥� Sparks said.

Amid looming uncertainty, County Council members thanked Stamp and the financial staff for their work to present a balanced budget ordinance Tuesday.

鈥滳learly we鈥檝e still got some storm clouds on the horizon, both from the federal and state budgets (and) impacts on local budgeting.鈥� Lesher said. 鈥溾�� We鈥檙e going into this, as you outlined, in a strong position. I think that this is a sound approach.鈥�

Public budget hearings will be held May 6 at 2 p.m. in the Talbot County Courthouse Bradley Meeting Room and 7 p.m. in the Easton High School Cafeteria. The final budget is expected to be passed by the County Council May 27.