Carroll County budget officials presented a preliminary plan for county-funded construction projects they recommend for funding in fiscal 2025 and beyond to the commissioners last week. It’s an exercise that happens at the start of every new year, as commissioners begin work on the capital improvement program that includes funding for schools, roads, libraries, senior centers and government buildings.

“This is the first public step in the process for the FY 2025 budget,” Ted Zaleski, director of Management and Budget, said Thursday during a meeting with commissioners. “This first step is what we call the preliminary recommended CIP.”

Commissioners made no budget decisions Thursday, and Zaleski did not attach costs to any projects. What will follow are several months of budget presentations, public hearings and work sessions, before the budget is adopted in late May.

“We’re just starting this process,” he said. “We have much more ahead of us.”

The recommended construction budget for fiscal 2025, which starts July 1, is $112.8 million. This is a decrease of $48 million from the $160.8 million capital budget for the current fiscal year. The recommended budget is less because several large projects received funding in the current CIP, budget officials said.

This includes renovations to the public school system’s Career and Technology Center, the newly constructed East Middle School in Westminster, construction of a parking garage in Westminster and construction of a new sheriff’s office.

Recommended funding for construction projects from fiscal 2025 through fiscal 2030 is $608.7 million. This is a decrease of $21.5 million from the current $629.7 capital fund for fiscal 2024 through fiscal 2029.

The spending plan will include funding for roads, bridges, parks, bridges, roof replacements, technology upgrades and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. There are also separate enterprise funds that include funding for sewer, solid waste and septic projects.

“These are things that are in every year, and will continue to be,” Zaleski said. “Parks, technology, stormwater ponds, water and sewer projects…The big story in the CIP is reevaluating what it’s going to cost to do the things we say we’re going to do.”

Zaleski also presented projects that are not included in the recommended budget, including modernization of William Winchester Elementary School in Westminster.

“This has been the (Carroll County Board of Education’s) highest priority for a number of years,” Zaleski said. “This year it slipped behind Liberty High School modernization, which is also not in the mix.”

Money for an addition to Freedom Elementary School in Eldersburg is also not included.

“This one, I imagine, is going to get some discussion,” Zaleski said. “There’s two problems we have here. One is how many elementary school students we have down in the southeast, and we have some schools that are overcrowded. This project came out of discussions about redistricting and other possible solutions down there.”

An addition to Sykesville Middle School is also not funded.

Carroll County’s Department of Recreation and Parks will also not get funding to install additional lighting for ball fields at both Cape Horn Park in Hampstead and Mayeski Park in Sykesville.

“Most of what we do in parks is Program Open Space funding,” Zaleski said. “We build a plan to try and get the highest priorities done within the money we think is going to be available.”

Program Open Space is funding allocated by the state to counties and municipalities for planning, acquisition and development of recreational land or open space areas.

Zaleski warned that the Maryland General Assembly could look at cutting Program Open Space money to help balance the state budget, though no discussion has taken place at this time.

Finally, funding is not included for the renovation of the Taneytown Senior Center, enclosing the porch at the Westminster Senior Center, renovating the Eldersburg Library, expanding the North Carroll Library or renovating the Westminster Library.

Money for a new Carroll County Detention Center is also not included.

“I bring this up every year,” Zaleski said. “We will have to build a new detention center someday. It’s not in this plan. It’s going to be an expensive project when the time comes. But we have an aging facility. It was built in a way that nobody would build a detention center today. It’s coming.”