Washington County officials propose $73 million capital budget for next fiscal year
The Washington County Commissioners got a first official look last week at capital budget requests for the upcoming budget year, as the county's chief financial officer presented them during their regular meeting.
Capital requests for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins July 1, total $73.8 million, CFO Kelcee Mace told the commissioners. Of that, $44.4 million would come from county sources, she said, and $29.4 million from grants and other sources.
The capital budget for the current year is $56 million.
In the FY 2025 proposal, the largest block of capital funds — $22.8 million — is earmarked for education. The lion's share of that, $22.2 million, would go to Washington County Public Schools for capital maintenance projects. That's just shy of $1 million more than this year's allocation.
Another $500,000 is slated for Hagerstown Community College maintenance projects, which is a little less than in the current budget, and $60,000 would go to capital projects for Washington County Public Library sites.
The proposal includes $10.4 million for road improvements. Major projects to be funded in this budget include Halfway Boulevard extended and widening portions of Eastern Boulevard.
Capital expenditures proposed for public safety total $9.3 million and would include vehicle and equipment replacement, a defensive driving track, a radio systems upgrade and projects at the Washington County Detention Center, and an ongoing project to relocate patrol services.
Other proposed capital expenditures include:
$7.9 million for Washington County Regional Airport for runway and taxi way repair and lighting, system improvements and tower maintenance
$7.2 million for parks and recreation, most of which has been earmarked for a multipurpose building and other improvements at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center. Also included is money for continued work on the gymnasium at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, a learning center at Black Rock and renovation at the Marty Snook Park pool
$6.6 million for general government projects and equipment
$4.1 million for cell construction at the 40 West Landfill and other solid waste projects
$2.9 million for bridge and drainage projects
$2.1 million for utility projects, including water and sewer system upgrades and equipment replacement
$479,000 for transit facility maintenance and equipment replacement
The commissioners will present a final budget draft in a public hearing in May, and adopt a budget afterward.
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This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County mulls $73M capital budget for fiscal 2025
