The Anne Arundel County Council is making sweeping attempts to shave any fat they can find in County Executive Steuart Pittman’s proposed $2.4 billion budget ahead of their June 15 deadline.
As the ultimate fiscal authority in the county, the council is tasked with reviewing the proposed budget, adding amendments and holding public hearings. After Pittman’s introduction of what he called a budget with a “defensive posture” in a tight economic year, the council began a sprint to modify the fiscal year 2026 budget, which takes effect July 1.
Monday’s council meeting — referred to as “Amendment day” — saw 54 amendments to the proposed budget, some withdrawn, some rejected and some adopted.
Here are three key takeaways:
1. County auditor
The council approved 39 amendments recommended by the county auditor.
Before being passed unanimously, the council secretary read each of the amendments in succession — many of them eliminating more than $100,000 for items like wastewater bonds and renovations to the county’s parking garages.
“I wanted to thank the budget office for all of their hard work in coming up with these and the administration for working closely with them so we could come to so much agreement on 39 different amendments to start off our day,” Council Chair Julie Hummer, a Laurel Democrat, said.
2. Campaign finance
The council voted to cut funding for the public campaign financing system by $1.25 million.
What was a $1.5 million recommendation from Pittman became just $250,000 after Hummer joined Republicans, who sponsored the bill.
The voluntary system, which the County Council passed in 2023, allows candidates to fund their campaigns with public matching dollars. In order to be eligible, candidates can not accept contributions of more than $250 or donations from special interest groups and must meet minimum standards of grassroots support.
Pete Smith, a Severn Democrat, abstained and Lisa Rodvien and Allison Pickard, both Democrats, opposed the amendment.
Both Pickard and Smith are running to replace term-limited Pittman as County Executive. Their opponent, Democrat James Kitchin, intends to use the public financing system.
“It is sad that, at a time when so many of our residents are disenchanted with our political system, our County Council did not protect this program, which is designed to empower everyday residents and make elected officials more responsive to people,” Kitchin said in a release.
A bipartisan commission, appointed by the council, unanimously recommended adding $1.5 million to the public campaign financing system.
Republican members disagreed, saying it wasn’t their job to support the commission.
“I don’t think that my job is to be a rubber stamp for anybody,” Nathan Volke, a Pasadena Republican, said. “My job is to ask lots of questions and dig in and try to ferret out whether I agree or disagree with somebody else’s conclusions.
3. New furniture
The council’s three Republicans placed the Office of the State’s Attorney on the chopping block.
“We are in somewhat of a tight budget year,” Volke said. “It’s not like we’re scrimping and saving everywhere but we are trying to look and find places where we can take non-essential monies and remove them and use them for other purposes.”
A “professional need” for $37,000 in furniture in the capital budget to enhance the Office of the State’s Attorney and replace its current outdated furnishings was unnecessary, according to Volke, Leadbetter and Fiedler.
They sponsored an amendment to remove the funding.
While the amendment was rejected along party lines, the “professional need” stirred a spirited debate after an Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney was removed from a case after undisclosed witness conversations.
“In light of some of the articles we’ve read in the newspaper recently,” Volke said, referring to County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess, the county’s top and only elected prosecutor. “I think there are some other things that may need to be done to deal with that before we get to furniture.”
Pittman will present his final supplemental amendments to the fiscal 2026 budget in a virtual meeting Tuesday.
The Council is scheduled to approve the budget Friday.
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