The Washington County Commissioners will give the School Board about $1.4 million of the $5.78 million increase it's asking for this year. The county board may up the ante by a few thousand dollars toward the end of the process, but is unlikely to go for the full requested amount, for several reasons.
The first is that in 2000, the commissioners increased both property and income taxes, in part to raise money to match Gov. Paris Glendening's offer to kick in more money for teacher raises. Absent a large natural disaster, the commissioners will not raises taxes in an election year.
Nor will the county draw down its surplus, which was estimated to be $10 million - about 8 percent of the county's annual budget - in late December. At the recent "State of the County" breakfast, Commissioners' President Greg Snook said that the New York bond rating houses, which essentially decide how much the county must pay to borrow money, are pleased that the surplus is fully funded.