Soon, I will announce my proposed budget for fiscal 2025, the greatest portion of which will go to Harford County Public Schools.
Nonetheless, my office has already received form letters without return addresses, some coming from students, in a pressure campaign organized by the teachers’ union. The intent is to force me to increase school funding by an unprecedented $40 million next year on top of the $315 million that Harford County Public Schools received for this year’s operations.
I will not be moved by such tactics, or by name calling, or by protest marches, to make decisions that undermine our fiscal stability or demand more from taxpayers.
I fully appreciate the importance of public education. My relatives and I have attended, currently attend, or work in our county’s public schools, , and I visit schools regularly.
Because education is a priority, I said in January that I hoped, based on revenue estimates at the time, to provide a 5% increase for Harford County Public Schools, or $15 million.
In further discussions with School Board President Aaron Poynton, we hoped to do more, including using more of our respective fund balances. For perspective, the school system’s most recently audited unassigned fund balance, representing prior government funding, was $25.5 million. Harford County’s was $6.6 million.
Since then, our actual income tax revenue for the current year came in $13 million below estimates. Even before the collapse of the Key Bridge, the state was forecasting a $255 million revenue reduction for this year and next, and this slowdown is being felt in counties throughout Maryland.
My administration is responding to the drop in revenues by cutting line items within county departments, leaving some open positions unfilled, eliminating positions through a retirement incentive and other efficiencies. We have encouraged Harford County Public Schools to do the same and will continue working on opportunities to share costs so that savings can be directed to the classroom.
What I will not do is raise taxes to balance next year’s budget. Many Harford County families are living paycheck to paycheck, seniors are on fixed incomes, and everyone is paying more for groceries and gas.
I will do my best to fund the public schools next year, along with other essential government functions, but like everyone else in Harford County, the schools must live within our taxpayers’ means.
Robert G. Cassilly, a Republican, is the Harford County executive
