School Construction, Bikeways and Trails, Public Safety Featured in Preliminary Capital Budget
Executive Fitzwater Encourages Public to Take Interactive Survey on Funding Requests
Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater provided an overview of her proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year today, highlighting major construction projects for schools and trails, and upgrades to public safety infrastructure. She outlined steady growth in revenues, and the fastest growing student enrollment in Maryland. Requests for new funding total more than $108 million for Fiscal Year 2024, which begins July 1, 2023. A full list of budget appeals can be viewed at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/Budget.
“Our budget should reflect our community priorities,” Executive Fitzwater said. “Before finalizing my proposed budget, it’s important to hear from as many members of the public as possible, so we can shape Frederick County’s future together.”
To gather community feedback on budget priorities, Executive Fitzwater held a public hearing in December and listening sessions in all five Council districts during January. The public has two more opportunities to weigh in on their funding priorities before Executive Fitzwater submits her proposed FY24 budget.
People are invited to use Balancing Act, an interactive online tool to select which budget requests they would include in Frederick County’s budget for the next fiscal year. In Balancing Act, people decide how they would allocate limited funds among actual funding requests. To take the survey, go to FrederickCountyMD.gov/Budget and click on Balancing Act. The survey will remain open through 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 23.
Additionally, a public hearing will be held Tuesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. People can attend in person at Winchester Hall, at 12 East Church Street in Frederick, or they can call in to provide comment. To join by phone, call toll-free 855-925-2801 and enter meeting code 5273. If you wish to speak at the hearing, press *3. You will continue to hear the meeting while you wait in the virtual queue for your turn to speak. The public hearing will be broadcast live on FCG TV on cable channels 19 and 1085, and web-streamed from FrederickCountyMD.gov/FCGTV. For live translation of closed captions in multiple languages, watch at FrederickCountyMD.gov/BudgetPublicHearing and select a language from the “translate” button on the web page.
