Residents should be welcomed at beginning of county budget process

This letter was also sent to the Board of Charles County Commissioners and the county administrator.

Back in session from the summer, the Board of Charles County Commissioners held a public hearing to hear directly from citizens about legislative proposals that the county could consider sending to Annapolis. That hearing — ahead of the state’s upcoming legislative session — was a collaborative exercise between commissioners, our state delegation and the public. It raises the question of where is the opportunity for residents to address the commissioners ahead of the county priority-setting season?

Based on previously published budget calendars, the county begins its budget process in the late fall-early winter, if not sooner. It is the county administrator who prepares a balanced budget for the commissioners as a framework for deliberation. That process plays out in the spring with several work sessions where county staff and agencies make presentations to the board, answer questions and discuss priorities. In April — a few weeks before budget adoption — public input is sought on the buduget proposal. We recommend that the county allow for public input at the front of the process.

Participants walk away from the spring public hearing feeling that the budget is largely “baked,” are sometimes surprised by the contents, and don’t have a way to track any changes that occur in those last few weeks. What are the commissioners’ own priorities that guide how the administrator develops the initial budget proposal? Is it a “baseline” budget that is simply an extension of current services? What tradeoffs are the commissioners themselves making as they shape the proposal at the margins — fund one park project, cut or delay another?

Using the state legislative proposal process as an example, we ask that the board create a fall public hearing that seeks resident input on the coming fiscal year’s budget and legislative and policy priorities. A hearing in front of the entire body — the commissioner president, the district commissioners, the administrator, and with other department heads in attendance — lets residents help set priorities for the year in an organized way. This is something that the individual commissioner town halls do not allow for. Our government functions well and is trusted when residents are active participants in the process. The current system seeks input at the end. A cynic could argue that the spring public hearing is to “check a box.” With a start-of-theprocess kickoff, both the commissioners and the public can later look back at that priority setting session to measure how competing interests were acknowledged and what was achieved.

We urge the board to bring the public in at the beginning. The Charles County Northern Democratic Club has other “good government” recommendations (integrating BoardDocs meeting notes and CCGTV video archives, making public the individual commissioner’s budget changes in advance of consideration) but are also developing recommendations in infrastructure, environment, health care, economic development and education. Commissioners, community partners and residents are all stakeholders and should discuss these priorities together.

Greg Waring, Waldorf The writer is chair of the Charles County Northern Democratic Club.