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Wicomico County FY2027 adopted budget

Wicomico County · Explainer · 2026-04-24 · last checked last week

Summary

The budget was adopted. The County Council passed Legislative Bill 2026-04 on June 2, 2026, and it took effect on July 1. The council made revisions to the Executive's proposal before adopting it.

The adopted real property tax rate is $0.7799 per $100 of assessed value — the rate the Executive proposed. The adopted budget book contains the county's own revenue-cap calculation: an FY26 revenue base of $71,155,291, allowable FY27 revenue on the net base of $72,578,397 against an assessable net base of $9,306,247,676, and $73,103,800 allowable once new construction is counted. That is the county's arithmetic as adopted, not a judgement about whether every aspect complies with the cap.

The clearest change between proposal and adoption is in savings: the proposal would have drawn $33,439,818 from prior-year fund balance, and the adopted budget draws $30,178,271 — $3,261,547 less.

The council also passed Resolution 82-2026 on May 27, moving its own adoption deadline from June 1 to June 15.

The remainder of this page preserves the April proposal context so readers can see what the council started from and what changed before adoption.

Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano formally submitted her proposed Fiscal Year 2027 operating and capital budget to the County Council on April 24, 2026. The proposal totals $237.5 million, a 9.8% increase over the adopted FY26 budget, and pairs that spending growth with a property tax rate reduction.

The administration frames the budget as balancing tax relief, record public safety investment, full funding of education obligations, and significant capital spending, while absorbing state cost shifts including the elimination of more than $700,000 in Teacher Retirement Supplement funding.

Major items include a real property tax rate cut to $0.7799 per $100 of assessed value, a $58.2 million education appropriation that begins funding school weapons detection systems, a record public safety package tied to the recently approved three-year Sheriff's Office collective bargaining agreement, $11 million in new bond funding plus $21 million in forward funding for the Fruitland Primary School project, and a 5% salary increase for most county employees.

The County Council reviewed the proposal during May and adopted the revised FY2027 budget on June 2, 2026.

Background

The Wicomico County Charter sets a fixed budget calendar. Department heads submit capital project requests to the County Executive by October 1 and operating estimates by March 15. The County Executive must submit the proposed expense budget to the County Council on or before the third Tuesday in April, and the Council must hold a public hearing on the expense budget on or before May 15.

The FY2027 proposal continues several themes from prior Giordano budgets. The administration has reduced the real property tax rate in consecutive cycles, with the FY26 rate set at $0.80 per $100 of assessed value and the FY27 proposal further reducing the rate to $0.7799. The press release describes this as a $0.03 reduction and estimates roughly $100 in annual savings for the owner of a $300,000 home not subject to reassessment. The personal property tax rate would fall correspondingly to $1.9497 per $100.

Spending grows even as the rate falls. The $237.5 million total is up $21.27 million, or 9.8%, from the adopted FY26 budget. The administration attributes this to continued economic growth and strategic use of fund balance for one-time investments, and reports debt service at 6.38% of new revenue, well below the county's 12% policy threshold.

Education is the largest single line. Total education funding rises to $58.2 million, up roughly $2.4 million from FY26. The proposal fully funds Maintenance of Effort, covers required state teacher pension and pre-K contributions, and provides initial funding for school weapons detection systems, with potential rollout in high schools by January 2027.

Public safety is described by the administration as a record investment. The budget funds the recently approved three-year Sheriff's Office collective bargaining agreement and adds resources for fire service, emergency response, and corrections. Workforce-wide, the budget proposes a 5% salary increase for most employees (a 2% cost-of-living adjustment plus a 3% step), funds a new three-year FOP pay scale, and adds more than $1.5 million to the pension fund.

The capital plan totals more than $25.5 million in Pay-Go funding across 33 projects, plus $11 million in new bond funding and $21 million in forward funding for the Fruitland Primary School project. A $7 million HVAC replacement at Fruitland Intermediate School is also included.

Two recurring policy debates framed council review. The first was the revenue cap. Wicomico County's charter limits annual property tax revenue growth, and during the FY25 budget cycle Council President John Cannon argued the executive had exceeded the cap to fund Fruitland Primary, while Giordano argued the action was permitted for educational purposes. The adopted FY27 budget book includes the county's own revenue-cap calculation; this page reports that calculation without independently resolving competing legal interpretations of the cap.

The second is the use of bonding versus reserves for major capital projects. The Council previously argued that Fruitland Primary should be funded from the county's reserve balance, which Cannon described in 2024 as exceeding $70 million, rather than through new bond debt. The FY27 budget again uses bonded and forward funding for Fruitland Primary rather than drawing on reserves, suggesting the disagreement may continue.

Outside the county budget itself, the administration cites ongoing state cost shifts as a source of pressure, specifically pointing to the elimination of more than $700,000 in Teacher Retirement Supplement funding from the State of Maryland.

The proposal also makes adjustments to enterprise funds. Solid Waste tipping fees would increase in two phases, to $94 and then $100 per ton for commercial haulers, with no increase to homeowner landfill tags but the introduction of a new $20 brush permit option. Recreation and Parks fees would also be adjusted.

Timeline

  • 2024 FY25 budget cycle: Council President John Cannon publicly argues that Executive Giordano has exceeded the county's revenue cap to fund Fruitland Primary School, while the executive argues the move is permitted for educational funding. The disagreement also covers whether to fund the school from reserves or through bonding.
  • April 2025: Giordano submits the FY26 budget, proposing a real property tax rate of $0.80 per $100 of assessed value, down from $0.84.
  • October 1, 2025: Per the county charter, department heads submit proposed capital projects for the next five fiscal years to the County Executive.
  • December 16, 2025: The proposed FY27-31 Capital Improvement Program is published, recommending a fall 2026 bond sale of $11,839,000, $12,465,015 in General Fund Pay-Go, and $15,200,000 in forward funding for Fruitland Primary School.
  • March 3, 2026: The county announces a public hearing on the proposed FY27 operating budget, capital budget, and governmental and enterprise funds budgets.
  • March 15, 2026: Per the county charter, departments submit itemized operating revenue and expenditure estimates to the County Executive.
  • April 24, 2026: County Executive Julie Giordano formally submits the proposed FY2027 budget to the County Council. The proposal totals $237.5 million and includes a real property tax rate reduction to $0.7799 per $100 of assessed value.
  • By May 15, 2026: The County Council is required by the county charter to hold a public hearing on the expense budget.
  • May 5, 2026: Legislative Bill 2026-04, the FY2027 budget, is introduced.
  • May 27, 2026: Resolution 82-2026 moves the council's budget adoption deadline from June 1 to June 15.
  • June 2, 2026: The council adopts the FY2027 budget, with revisions to the Executive's proposal.
  • July 1, 2026: FY2027 begins and the budget takes effect.

Watch Next

The adoption is settled. What remains is whether the budget does what it said it would.

  • School safety. The education appropriation began funding weapons detection; whether that was purchased and installed is a separate question from whether it was funded.
  • Fruitland Primary and Fruitland Intermediate. The adopted budget carries design and construction financing for the new primary school, including state and forward-funding components, and HVAC work at the intermediate school. Both are multi-year.
  • Enterprise fund fees, and whether the increases were implemented as adopted.
  • Year-end performance, which is the only real test of the fund-balance and revenue-cap arithmetic above: whether revenue came in as projected, and whether the county drew as little from savings as it planned to.

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