Category Archives: Dorchester County Council

County Council Meeting May 6, 2025

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Dorchester County Council Meeting May 6, 2025, Notes – Submitted by Sharon Smith, CAN

Present: George Pfeffer, President; Mike Detmer, Vice President; Rob Kramer, Jr; William Nichols; Ricky Travers; Jerry Jones, County Manager; Irene Barnes, Administrative Specialist; Miss Luzanne; Charles MacLeod, Attorney

The Dorchester County Council meeting to present the first public hearing of the 2026 proposed budget lasted almost two hours.

Several items of note were presented.

Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) Annual Visit, presented by Jack Wilson, President and Executive Director, Michael Sanderson, discussed the economic impact of the Maryland state budget crisis, especially on Dorchester County. “The arithmetic for your budget was as hard as I have ever seen.”   “Dorchester doesn’t have a lot of places to go for extra revenue.”  Stating that the state “passed the buck” to the counties.

Annual Meeting with Municipalities

Mayor Lajan Cephas of Cambridge thanked the county council for their service and said that the city and the county are “in this together.”  She stated that last year Cambridge added $40M in real property value to the county tax roles. She recommended that the county could take a loan from its reserve funds and pause resurfacing three miles of county roads to provide the $1.1M in tax differential.  Since creating a balanced budget will be a challenge for the foreseeable future, she recommended that the county create a County Tax Revenue Options Task Force to develop long term solutions.  Mayor Cephas offered that she and Mayor Cephus of Hurlock would be willing participants.

Hurlock Town Manager John Avery and Church Creek Mayor Karen Tolley echoed Mayor Cephas’ sentiments.

Legislative Session

Public Hearing – Bill Number 2025-4 2025-2026 Budget & Appropriations Ordinance

Public Testimony

Frank Narr, Treasurer of CWDI – thanked the council for past support and expressed appreciation for the $72K for CWDI included in the new budget.

Robert Aron, citizen – stressed that the county is poor and citizens cannot afford higher taxes.

Sharon Smith, CAN Board Member- requested greater transparency from the council on the details of the county budget, which currently provides only summarized revenues and expenditures. Specifically, the entire budget ordinance is only 14 pages, whereas Talbot County provides 50 pages of detail, Easton 155 pages and Cambridge 117 pages. (A Public Information Act Request was submitted on May 8th to the county council to require publication of the entire budget.)

Cleveland Rippons – former mayor of Cambridge- created the current tax differential while in office, stated that the county is burdening the municipalities with higher taxes, and is doing the same “pass the buck” on expenditures as the state is doing to the counties. Asked to meet with the council.

……………… Treasurer of Deep Harbor Association- an eleven-year resident saves taxes with the Homestead Tax Credit. However, another resident of two years duration just sold as his tax bill was $6,000+. Potential buyers will go elsewhere.

Mary Ann Benson, High Street resident- objects to the elimination of the tax differential, further stating that the council wants to tax municipal citizens for services that it is not providing, and “that seems fraudulent.”

Sputty Cephas, Cambridge City Council President – raising taxes will drive people away from the county.

Council President Murphy of Hurlock-pleaded with the council to not raise taxes

Michelle Borke, a Deep Harbor resident for 1.5 years- lives here because it is affordable. If taxes go up, she will consider moving,

President Pfeffer thanked citizens for their comments and stated that council cannot make any changes to the budget until after the second hearing on the budget bill, which is next Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm.

Public Hearing – Bill Number 2025-5 Qualified Senior Citizens Tax Credit-Second Hearing

No Public comments were offered.

President Pfeffer noted that to be eligible, one must be 67+ years old, a full-time resident, maximum $200K in net worth excluding home value, maximum $60K household income, and maximum assessed value of residence $300K. The bill passed unanimously.

Introduced legislation to abandon and convey a portion of the Farm Creek Road and Toddville Boat Ramp as discussed in earlier sessions.

Introduced legislation for a tax credit for shoreline erosion.

Dorchester County Council Meeting, April 1, 2025

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Unofficial Notes Submitted By Sharon Smith, CAN

https://townhallstreams.com/stream.php?location_id=153&id=66247

Present: George Pfeffer, President; Mike Detmer, Vice President; Rob Kramer, Jr; William Nichols; Ricky Travers; Jerry Jones, County Manager; Irene Barnes, Administrative Specialist; Charles MacLeod, Attorney

The Consent Agenda was passed without discussion.

Thomas Oliver, Department of Emergency Services, was commended for his 20 years of service to the county as an EMT upon his retirement.

There were three proclamations read by President Pfeffer –

  • Public Health Week, week of April 7th – 13th – President Pfeffer read the proclamation and some notable successes in health over the last 30 years 1.) adult smoking rates have fallen in the US from 25% to 11%, 2.) infant mortality has fallen from 13.8 deaths per 1000 live births to 5.4, 3.) mental health has improved, 4.) elevated lead poisoning among children has fallen from 4.4% to 0.5%, and 5.) improvements in pandemic preparation. Several people in the health department were recognized for their service.
  • Sexual Assault Awareness Month, April – In the US 81% of women and 43% of men report having some type of unwanted sexual encounter during their lifetimes. For All Seasons rape crisis center has the highest rate of calls by 38% from Dorchester County among all Maryland counties served for sexual assault. They are seeing a big uptick in alcohol and drug assisted assault, “sip safe.”
  • Child Abuse Prevention Month, April – Child abuse is addressed in the county by collaboration across service providers. The Department of Social Services spoke on behalf of the child advocacy center. Preventing child abuse is a community-wide responsibility.

Action items approved included contracts for public works activities of fuel station re-piping, and mowing at the marina, landfill, and county facilities and tax properties. Additionally, the contract for medical billing services was extended.

Mr. Detmer reported on the Traffic Safety Committee meeting, which surfaced a public complaint about parking on county property near the Ragged Point Causeway by people fishing.

Seven county-level boards and committees have vacancies that the Council would like to fill. Mr. Collins asked to be re-appointed to the Planning Committee and was approved.

Poll confirmations are how the council confirms any motions made and voted upon between physical council meetings. The motions are repeated, voted upon and recorded during the next live council session. This meeting’s poll confirmations were for permission to apply for various grants.

Jerry Jones, the county manager, introduced the new Director of Public Works, Matt Osmer, who most recently served in that capacity in Trappe.

Mr. Detmer recognized Delegates Sample-Hughes and Hutchinson for standing up for Dorchester County during the recent state legislative services. Delegate Adams was noted for his opposition to the “solar bill,” SB931/HB 1036. Mr. Pfeffer noted Senator Mautz’s service as well. The council voted to send them all an official thank you letter.

Public comments. An attendee called council’s attention to “astronomical abuse and neglect” occurring at Mallard Bay Nursing Home, that she witnessed while working there. She reported the abuse to the Director of Nursing, the Assistant Director of Nursing, and reported it to the state, following up with 14 phone calls. A supervisor with the state said it would take six months before an investigation will occur. The most recent investigation was conducted in 2022. The attendee pleaded for help. Amanda Leonard, States Attorney, was in attendance and is meeting with the attendee. Also, Commissioner Ricky Travers offered that Delegate Hutchinson is looking into the level of care at Mallard Bay and suggested she meet with him.

Dorchester County Council Meeting March 18, 2025 – Unofficial Notes

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Submitted By Sharon Smith, CAN

Attendance: George Pfeffer, President; Mike Detmer, Vice President; Rob Kramer, Jr; William Nichols; Ricky Travers; Jerry Jones, County Manager; Irene Barnes, Administrative Specialist; and Charles MacLeod, Attorney were all present.
I. Invocation & Pledge of Allegiance – 6:08 pm.
II. Calls for Additions/Deletions to Agenda
III. Financial Report: General Fund Cash on Hand: $ 34,605,884
IV. Closed Session Summary §3-305(b): (1), (13) & (7) to discuss personnel matters and legal advice on several topics.
V. Consent Agenda
The Consent Agenda was approved, 5-0.
  • County Council Open Session Minutes – March 4, 2025
  • Accounts Payable Disbursement Report – Week Ending March 14, 2025
  • Intradepartmental Budget Transfer Request – Recreation & Parks – Public Works
  • Grant Submission Requests – Federal Aviation Administration – Airport
  • Contract Renewal – LexisNexis – Council’s Office
  • Grant Submission Request – FY25 Community Programming for Youth – Recreation & Parks
  • Letter of Support – National Trust for Historic Preservation Grant Application – Applegarth Tubman Medicine Hill Preservation and Education
  • Letter of Support – Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund – Mid-Shore Regional Council
  • Annual Housing Bond Allocation – Department of Housing & Community Development
VI. Proclamation – Endometriosis Awareness Month – March
  • Vice President Detmer read the proclamation, including some statistics, such as one in ten women will develop the disease for which there is no cure. Shannon Hannawald of Endo Warriors accepted the proclamation and shared her personal story.
VII. Presentation – Budget Update – Board of Education
  • Dr. Jymil Thompson, Superintendent of Dorchester County Schools, and Board member Chris Wheedleton provided a brief overview of the school budget. The board has decreased their projected 2026 budget deficit from $10.1M to $5.5M and hopes to obtain additional Blueprint funding from the state. The 2025 budget was $88M and the projected 2026 budget is $93M. The county schools rank 23rd out of 24 education systems in the state, behind only Baltimore City. The goal is to rank 15th in three years, and he is developing a strategic plan to achieve this.
  • Discussion ensued lead by Commissioner Detmer on ways to decrease the school budget deficit including the cost of sports programs and school plays. Mr. Detmer said if the county must fund the schools $5M budget deficit it would require a 15% increase in county property taxes. An idea to close one of the county’s two high schools was dismissed after a discussion of the multiple negative effects.
  • Commissioner Pfeffer is pursuing a waiver of some Blueprint requirements from the state. He said that the original projected cost for the county to implement the Blueprint was $26.8M by 2030, but the county has already invested $26.3 with more than $10M in costs to come in future years.
VIII. Legislative Agenda
  • VP Detmer introduced legislation to increase the 911 fee from $2/line/month, which was just approved on March 4, 2025 (Bill 2025-2) to $4.25. He explained that the current budget to operate the 911 center is $1.9M and with the previous fee of $1.50/line/month, $660K was raised. Increasing the line fee to $4.25 should raise $1.8M, making the center almost self-funded. The motion was approved 5-0.
IX. Action Items
  • Request to Advertise for Proposals – Closure Construction New Beulah Municipal Landfill Closure – Geosyntec Consultant – Landfill
  • Request for Approval – FFY2025-2030 Airport Capital Improvement Plan for the airport, which gets submitted to the FAA.
  • Grinder Pump Purchase Sole Source Request – Water & Wastewater $11,553
  • James G. Busick Foundation Fundraising Request – Recreation & Parks – to hang three fund-raising banners for three months.
  • Request to Advertise for Proposals – to convert Hurlock tennis courts to pickleball courts – Recreation & Parks
  • Poll Confirmations
X. Council’s Comments
  • VP Detmer shared that the state is considering privatizing the inspection of septic systems.
  • President Pfeffer announced that there is another Budget Workshop scheduled for Thursday, March 20th at 5pm in the Room 110, county office building.
XI. Public Comments
  • The City Manager will try to post on the county website budget slides prior to Thursday’s budget meeting.
XII. Adjournment – 7:19pm