Mayor Gavin Buckley’s proposed $170 million operating budget for next year doesn’t raise taxes and includes a 14% increase in police funding.
Buckley introduced the spending plan to the Annapolis City Council on Monday. The 2023 fiscal year begins on July 1.
“As required by City Code, I have submitted a balanced budget. There is no tax increase,” Buckley said during his State of the City address.
It was the first such speech he’s delivered in person since 2019. In it, he highlighted the work of each department and credited all of them with frugal spending that allowed the city to save federal American Rescue Plan Act funding from this year to use over the next two budgets.
Next year’s budget is a 12% increase over the $152 million budget approved last year, though, with three months remaining in the fiscal year, projected expenditures are closer to $146 million.
The plan increases the Annapolis police budget to $25.2 million, a 14% increase over this year. It funds 124 police officer positions, the same total as the current budget, though the police department hasn’t reached those numbers in years due to attrition, competition from other jurisdictions and other factors. As recently as January, the department had 107 sworn officers. Buckley announced Monday that eight new officers had been hired this year.
The police budget also includes $156,000 for a computer-aided dispatch system and $148,250 so the department can comply with the sweeping law enforcement reform legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2021.
The Finance Committee, a standing committee chaired by Elly Tierney, a Ward 1 Democrat, will begin deliberations on the operating and capital budgets over the next three weeks. Tierney and her fellow committee members, Democratic Alderwomen Sheila Finlayson, of Ward 4, and Karma O’Neill, of Ward 2, will deliver a report to the full council next month. A public hearing and consideration of budget amendments will follow in June. The final budget must be adopted by June 30.
Buckley’s budget includes about $5 million in nonrecurring expenses, including a combined $2.1 million on roadway and sidewalk repairs, though a Main Street rebricking project has been pushed to fiscal year 2024.
Several priorities voiced by council members are reflected in the budget, including $50,000 for a citywide survey proposed last year by Finlayson to gauge what city services are most important to residents. Another $25,000 would go toward hiring an outside consultant to review the city’s permitting process, a proposal suggested by Tierney.
Another $42,000 in the public works budget is earmarked for improvements at the Wells Cove landing in Eastport, where two residents are suing to allow water access.
The Annapolis fire budget, the city’s second largest by funding and staff, would get a 7% bump next year up to $23.3 million. The budget includes one-time funds for a hazardous material identification device, station alerting system and gym equipment. The increase is largely due to salary and benefits increases as well as funding for a new quality assurance officer position.
The budget funds several other new positions, including a second watch commander in the Harbormaster’s Office, a zoning compliance officer in the Department of Planning and Zoning, a community engagement administrator serving in the Office of Community Services, four new Finance Department positions and an environmental compliance inspector and stormwater manager in the Department of Public Works.
Those additions are offset by several positions from this year that would not be funded in fiscal 2023, including an elections assistant, and two senior accountant positions.
Buckley also delivered a $168 million capital budget and improvement program, a wish list of projects throughout Annapolis that the city expects to undertake over the next six years. The proposal includes $62 million in total spending for fiscal year 2023. About two-thirds of that money, $41 million, is allocated for the City Dock redevelopment project set to begin next year.
Several campaign promises made by Buckley to expand water access and make the city more walkable are also in the capital budget, including $22,000 for restoration work at Hawkins Cove, $56,000 for the West-East Express bike path that would connect the Historic District to the Parole area.
Another $8.5 million would go toward the acquisition of 5 acres off Bembe Beach Road where a public park will be constructed to honor the last remnant of two historic Black-owned beaches in Annapolis. About $1.2 million would be spent on renovations at the Stanton Community Center, and $1 million would pay the initial costs of the mayor’s plan to acquire an electric ferry.
No ARPA money in 2022 fiscal year
With less than three months left in the current fiscal year, the city is projecting it will collect $147.4 million in revenue while spending about $146.1 million, a difference of $1.3 million.
The city announced Monday that general fund revenues are set to exceed projections by nearly $5 million thanks in part to the parking fund taking in $2.3 million more than was anticipated when the budget was passed last year. At the same time, belt-tightening by department directors, such as a reduction in grant spending, allowed the city to spend $3 million less over the course of the year.
The projections mean the city will be able to save the remaining $6.43 million in ARPA funds it received during the pandemic and roll over the money into the next two fiscal years.
After Congress passed the emergency aid bill in March 2021, the city received a total of $7.6 million that, unlike prior federal funding, could be used on operating expenses. About $1.17 million was allocated in fiscal year 2021.
Now, the city is expected to split the remaining money over the next two years, with $1.5 million to be used in fiscal year 2023 and $4.9 million carried over to fiscal year 2024.
