Office of Mayor Gavin Buckley
PRESS RELEASE
City of Annapolis
160 Duke of Gloucester Street
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Mitchelle Stephenson, 410-972-7724 or mwstephenson@annapolis.gov
Mayor Buckley to Introduce 2023 Spending Plan
at Tonight’s (April 11) City Council Meeting
Annapolis, MD (April 11, 2022) – Mayor Gavin Buckley will deliver the annual “State of the City” address to the City Council on Monday, April 11 at 7 p.m. The Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Budget will be introduced during the same meeting, the first to be held in-person since January.
“In my first term, we worked to get our financial house in order,” Mayor Buckley said. “Then came the pandemic. During that time, our City revenues took a hit, but have rebounded in a robust fashion. As required by City Code, I have introduced a balanced budget and have not asked the Council to approve any property tax increases.”
The FY23 budget includes $95.4 million in recurring and $5.03 million in non-recurring expenditures. The budget anticipates using $1.52 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, $2.23 million in pay-go capital funds and $2.8 million in funds for non-recurring, or one-time, items.
Highlights of the budget include $62.4 million in capital projects, plus $42,000 for improvements at Wells Cove, $156,000 for a computer aided dispatch system for the Annapolis Police Department, $20,000 for pop-up summer camps, and $20,000 to supplement promotion efforts for the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. Operating budget highlights include $27,000 in funding for traffic engineering services, $8,000 for enhanced winter relief, $15,000 for forestry services, $253,000 for increased finance staffing, $97,000 for additional code compliance staffing, and $148,250 so that the City Police Department can comply with new (and unfunded) state mandates.
American Rescue Plan Act: General fund revenue in the current fiscal year (Fiscal Year 2022) is anticipated to exceed the budgeted amount by $4.96 million while expenses are under budget by $2.8 million, allowing the City to not have to tap ARPA funds for the current fiscal year. And while the City had originally anticipated the possibility of utilizing the entirety of ARPA funds between FY21 and FY22, the budget as introduced holds more than half of that funding in reserve for next year, allowing the City to further carry over federal American Recovery Program funds. After the U.S. Congress passed ARPA in March of 2021, the City received $7.6 million in ARPA funds ($1.17 million was used in FY21; $0 will be used In FY22; $1.5 million is expected to be used in FY23; and $4.90 million will be carried over to FY24).
The Budget Process:
On Monday, April 11, Mayor Gavin Buckley will introduce the Mayor’s Budget as a City ordinance.
Next, the Finance Committee, a standing committee of the City Council chaired by Alderwoman Eleanor Tierney (Ward 1), with Alderwoman Karma O’Neill (Ward 2) and Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson (Ward 4), will review and make recommendations to the full City Council on the Mayor’s proposed Operating and Capital budgets. This review takes place over several weeks and multiple Finance Committee meetings.
Two citizen commissions will also conduct reviews and can make recommendations: the Planning Commission will review the Capital budget to ensure that it is coordinated with the City’s comprehensive plan; the Financial Advisory Commission will review and may make recommendations to both the Operating and Capital budgets. After the Finance Committee’s and Commissions’ recommendations are sent to the City Council, the Council will consider budget amendments during meetings in June before adopting the FY23 budget prior to the end of June. The Council is required to pass a balanced budget.
The final date for passage of the final adopted City Budget is June 30.
# # #