Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier is not ruling out a tax increase, as her administration prepares the county’s budget for the coming year.
In a wide-ranging interview with WYPR, Klausmeier talked taxes, schools, ICE and her at-times fractious relationship with the county council.
Baltimore County, like other localities, is feeling the fiscal pressure. Fewer dollars are expected from the state. Federal money is uncertain. Costs are going up.
So when asked about raising taxes, Klausmeier said, “You know what? I can’t say yes or no because the budget, we’ve only just begun.”
Klausmeier will present her proposed budget to the county council in April.
About 50 percent of the county’s budget goes to the schools.
Superintendent Myriam Rogers is proposing a school budget that delivers on promised salary hikes for teachers but cuts nearly 600 positions. When Rogers presented her budget to the school board last month she said teachers and parents alike said their number one issue was pay raises.
“Prioritizing the full compensation package was extremely important to members of Team BCPS,” Rogers said.
But there is concern that cutting hundreds of jobs will lead to more crowded classrooms. Kelly Olds, the president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, told Klausmeier that at a recent budget town hall.
“Educators change the future for our students,” Olds said. When there are less educators, when class sizes grow, our students suffer.”
The school board is expected to take action on Superintendent Rogers’ budget on Tuesday. It then goes to Klausmeier. She said she’s been in budget discussions with Rogers but it’s too soon to say if additional money can be found for classrooms.
Klausmeier said, “I can’t say one way or the other, again, because our budget is still in fluid motion.”
Klausmeier was appointed by the county council in January of 2025 to finish the final two years of Johnny Olszewski’s term when he resigned to take a seat in Congress. But her relationship with the council that picked her has at times been rocky.
In October, when she shelved plans for a new library in Middle River, Republican Councilman David Marks said she was giving Middle River the middle finger.
“I did not appreciate that very much at all,” Klausmeier said.
Marks said while he remains very disappointed with how Klausmeier handled the library, he is ready to move on. Marks praises her for not raising taxes.
“I think generally she has approached things from a fiscally disciplined manner,” Marks said. “Sometimes that requires difficult decisions.”
And then there was her handling of the inspector general.
The council last August blocked Klausmeier’s attempt to replace Kelly Madigan, who has since resigned to take the same job in Howard County. Klausmeier, who spent 30 years in the Maryland General Assembly, said she had the wrong idea of how the executive and legislative branches work.
“I thought the county council and the executive worked together, collaboratively, just like I work with my colleagues in Annapolis,” Klausmeier said. “But it’s not that way. It’s two separate bodies. I learned that real fast.”
Democratic Councilman Izzy Patoka said Klausmeier has not done enough to keep in touch.
“I was hoping that we would have more dialogue between my council office and the executive office,” Patoka said.
However, the council and the executive did recently work together when at Klausmeier’s urging the council met in special session to swiftly put a ban on ICE detention centers in place. Republican Del. Kathy Szeliga called it unnecessary political theater because there are no known plans for a detention center. But Klausmeier said she didn’t want to take any chances.
“I really don’t want any detention centers in Baltimore County,” Klausmeier said. “I can’t stop the ones that are in the federal buildings. But they just wreak havoc.”
As part of her deal with the county council to be appointed county executive, Klausmeier agreed not to run for a full four year term in 2026. With about nine months to go in her term, Klausmeier says she wants to ensure a smooth transition for the next county executive.
“Whoever that is, I can give the keys and say ‘take it away.’”
Klausmeier said she will not make an endorsement in the five-way race for the Democratic nomination for county executive.
“I am not supporting anyone,” Klausmeier said. “I’m just not supporting anybody right now, so we'll see how it goes.”
