SALISBURY — A preliminary $198 million budget for Wicomico County includes $20.5 million for a new Fruitland Primary School but officials are divided on how it ultimately will be funded.
The proposed spending plan, a 2.7 percent increase from last year, includes pay raises for county employees, a slight cut in property taxes and capital improvements.
However, a major issue has centered on the North Division Street school that was originally built in 1955.
Fruitland Primary
County Council wants to fund the Fruit Primary project with its surplus reserves, but Finance Director Pam Oland told the council in a recent meeting they propose to exceed the revenue cap next year by just under two cents. She said it is allowed for educational purposes through Maryland state law.
“We are proposing a tax rate of $0.8739 per $100 of assessed value,” Oland said. “This is still a decrease in our overall tax rate by just over a cent.”
Citing the importance of education in her recent State of the County address, Giordano said she received letters from children at Fruitland Primary School who wrote they needed a new building to learn.
An August 2022 feasibility study said the existing facility is aging and suffers from a combination of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, accessibility and educational deficiencies.
Wicomico County Council, in an April 19 response to the preliminary budget, said the funding for Fruitland Primary School “underscores its commitment to supporting education and enhancing infrastructure within our community.”
But the release questioned Giordano’s decision to bond the $20.5 million rather than accepting the council’s directive to fund the project with the county’s surplus reserves.
The council said exceeding the revenue cap would burden Wicomico County citizens with increased debt, additional interest payments and a higher tax rate than normally allowed by the property tax revenue cap, which was implemented in 2002 through a referendum by voters.
“It is not fiscally responsible, nor representative of the conservative governance Wicomico County citizens’ have come to expect from their elected officials,” the release said.
The council said it instead plans to engage in future budget sessions with Giordano to find a more “productive” solution.
“The solution is a simple one, fund the Fruitland Primary School using the county’s reserves and lower the citizens’ tax rates to the amount allowed by the current property tax revenue cap; which is best for our government, our citizens and the children of Wicomico County,” according to the release.
Proposed pay increases
The proposed budget also includes pay raises for county employees. Giordano said in a letter within the budget packet that it is difficult for employers to retain and recruit employees and the county is no exception.
“This budget does include a commitment to our employees of a five percent increase,” Oland said during an April 16 County Council meeting. “We are doing a four percent (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) plus one percent for a raise, so that they move on the scale, not just moving the scale up.
Oland said they are currently negotiating a new agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police that will include pay increases. She said the budget proposes a new pay scale for correctional officers, while emergency services dispatchers could receive an eight percent raise.
Additional budget proposals
The proposed budget also includes $13 million for the Wicomico County Public Library, money for civic center and airport improvements and increased funding for the City of Salisbury Fire Department and EMS to account for emergency services within the county.
“The increase to Salisbury reflects an equitable funding level for all of the County Fire Districts,” Giordano said.
A May 7 public hearing will be held on the proposed budget at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers located on the third floor of the Government Office Building at 125 N. Division Street in Salisbury.
Reach Managing Editor Richard Caines at rcaines@iniusa.org.
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