The $5 billion budget that Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier presented to the County Council on Thursday doesn’t raise taxes.
It doesn’t provide tax relief either.
Klausmeier said she knows people are paying more for everything from groceries to gas.
“We’re not going to add an additional burden on our residents,” Klausmeier said.
But while the tax rate has not gone up in decades, tax bills have. That’s because homes are worth more. According to the county, the average residential tax bill is more than $3,300. In 2007, it was about half that.
Councilman David Marks, a Republican said, “I would welcome a property tax cut but it’s basically a party line issue.”
Democrats control the council by a 4-3 margin and Klausmeier is a Democrat as well.
In an interview after her budget message, Klausmeier said she was focused on keeping the tax rate the same.
“I had promised when I got into this position I wouldn’t raise taxes so that wasn’t on my radar,” Klausmeier said. “It’s up to the next county executive to do what they want to do.”
Klausmeier will step down in December after serving almost two years. She was appointed by the council to complete Johnny Olszewski’s term when he resigned to take a seat in Congress.
County Council Chair Mike Ertel, a Democrat, said sure, it sounds good to cut taxes, but there’s not much fat to trim from the budget to pay for a tax cut.
Ertel said, “We run fairly lean and we’ve been running lean for a lot of years.”
Ertel added there are a lot of things out there that need money.
For instance, Klausmeier is adding $10 million additional dollars to pay for roads hard hit by the usual wear and tear as well as the winter storm in late January that put the region on ice for weeks. But she admits it’s not enough.
“I don’t really think that it will ever catch up,” Klausmeier said. “And $10 million. If we had maybe put $50 million or $60 million then maybe every pothole would be filled.”
Ertel said, “We’re going to have to figure out a solution in Baltimore County as to how we can spend more on paving. And that’s probably one of the top five that I hear in communities. Why do our roads look this bad.”
County officials say the state has been shortchanging them for years on money for road resurfacing.
Klausmeier’s budget also proposes that the county borrow nearly $60 million for a new library for Essex. Yara Cheikh, the Board of Library Trustees president, said it will be a state-of-the-art building that will replace the current small, dark, outdated branch.
“It’s a new site,” Cheikh said. “It’s near an elementary school where we can do combined programming. This is going to be extraordinary for a community that has been underinvested and underresourced."
Cheikh said the library will include services residents have asked for.
“They want a food pantry,” Cheikh said. “They want a place that has community seating and an amphitheater. We’ve worked with our architects and they are creating that incredible 21st century library that is a community hub.”
The county council must first approve the bond referendum for the library, then it will go to the voters in November.
Klausmeier’s budget also includes a three percent cost of living increase for county employees and a crisis stabilization center where people who are having a mental health or substance abuse crisis can be taken rather than to an emergency room.
There’s money for 12 additional battalion chiefs for the fire department. Councilman Ertel said currently a chief may be miles away from a big fire or major incident.
“That incident might be in Cockeysville and the only battalion chief is in Halethorpe,” Ertel said. “That’s a long way to come before major leadership is on the scene.”
Klausmeier said getting a building permit in the county is a hassle for developers and residents alike.
“Building just a deck was a pain in the neck,” said Klausmeier, who is putting money towards improving the county’s permitting system.
Klausmeier, the first woman to serve as county executive, noted that she was speaking in the county’s historic courtroom where the portraits on the wall are all of white men.
“They certainly don’t look like the Baltimore County we see today,” Klausmeier said.
The budget message was held in the courtroom because County Council chambers are being renovated to make room for two additional council members. The body is expanding from seven to nine members.
The county council will now consider Klausmeier’s budget.
Its power is limited. It can only cut the budget. It cannot increase it or move money around.
The council will approve the 2026-2027 spending plan in late May.
