Change does not come for free.
At the June 27 meeting of the charter board, Charles County’s Acting Director of Fiscal and Administrative Services Jacob Dyer delivered the price tag of switching the county’s form of government. Voters will get to decide in a November ballot referendum whether Charles switches from a code home rule form of government to a charter government, which would come with a county executive and other new positions.
The overall price for a change to charter comes in at $1.15 million to $1.6 million, but that may not be all.
“It also doesn’t factor in if any major renovations are needed to a county government building to support any offices,” Dyer said. “This fiscal note is essentially just looking at the cost to build walls within this building.”
“Our building is busting at the seams with staff,” he added.
The largest variation in the cost of the potential government shift would come from the implementation of a county council.
On the low end, it could cost a minimum of $84,500, but could cost up to $423,700 depending on staffing needs.
“There could be three more positions to fund in that area,” Dyer says.
The new positions include a program specialist, a new attorney designated by the county attorney to support the county council and a new county council specialist.
“County government, we are lean and mean. I’ve been working here since 2002. For the last 22 years, our motto has been ‘lean and mean,’” Dyer said.
“Just to be clear with the public, this cost is not just salaries but it does include fringes, it does include associated administrative costs that would go with additional staffing,” Greg Waring, the chairman of the charter board, said.
Currently, the greatest economic impact that would come with a switch to charter is the establishment of an inspector general’s office, which would be dedicated to oversight of the county government.
The minimum cost of the new branch would be $550,900 and could max out at $653,900, barring any renovations needed to accommodate new staff.
“That’s really to support new positions under the inspector general’s office. The fiscal note assumes it would be four positions … that would be an inspector general, a deputy inspector general, another attorney position, as well as admin associate to support the overall offices,” Dyer said.
The county executive is budgeted at a flat $369,000, if no renovations are needed. The base salary for the position comes in at $150,000, and a position to support the executive is factored in. Fringe benefits and operating costs are also included.
The transition itself is expected to cost right around $150,000.
At the end of the meeting, the charter board unanimously voted to approve the charter as written.
“Thank you everybody, its been a year,” Waring said. “The next step is we publish, we post and some combination of us will present to the commissioners on July 23.”
The commissioners will be unable to change the document as it is presented to them.
“Read the charter,” Dottery Butler-Washington, vice-chair of the charter board, said.
The draft is available at www.charlescountymd.gov/government/boards-commissions/charter-board.
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