CALVERT COUNTY, MD – The Board of County Commissioners for Calvert County is urging Maryland Governor Wes Moore to restore $22.5 million in funding for Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25). The request follows the expiration of two Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreements, which significantly impacted the county’s wealth assessment and resulted in a reduction of state funding for local schools.
The loss of these PILOT agreements—one with Constellation Energy Generation’s Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant and another with BHE GT&S’s Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility—caused the state to reduce its financial support for CCPS by $22,457,474. The change was triggered by an artificially inflated wealth assessment for Calvert County, skewing the funding formula used by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE).
Calvert County faced a difficult budget year as a result. To address the shortfall, the Board of County Commissioners opted to maintain its local contribution to CCPS at the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) level. Discussions began with CCPS and the Calvert County Board of Education in May 2024 to devise strategies to mitigate the funding cuts’ impact on staff and students while still meeting the mandates of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a comprehensive education reform plan for the state.
In addition to reducing spending across all program areas, the county delayed almost all Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) and considered local tax increases to bridge the funding gap. The situation became more critical when CCPS notified county officials of pending staff layoffs due to the shortfall. In response, the Board of County Commissioners scheduled an emergency meeting, during which they allocated an additional $164.7 million to CCPS from the county’s fund balance, directing the school system to tap into its own fund balance to cover the remaining deficit.
“To balance our local budget, we were forced to increase local real property and income taxes,” county officials explained in their letter to Governor Moore.
Negotiations to restore the PILOT agreements for both the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant and Cove Point LNG have since been successfully completed, effective July 1, 2023. The new agreement with Cove Point LNG will be in place through June 30, 2039, while the Calvert Cliffs agreement will last until June 30, 2027.
In light of these developments, Calvert County officials are formally requesting that the state allocate part of its $479 million in uncommitted surplus from the previous fiscal year to restore the $22.5 million in funding for CCPS.
“We are pleased to see that the State of Maryland realized a surplus from last fiscal year with approximately $479 million in uncommitted surplus,” the commissioners stated. “We formally request the State use part of the uncommitted surplus to return the $22.5 million in funding to Calvert County Public Schools for FY25 now that the PILOT agreements have been restored.”
The PILOT agreements serve as essential financial mechanisms for local governments, providing compensation from large-scale industrial facilities in lieu of property taxes. Without them, jurisdictions like Calvert County face significant challenges in balancing their budgets and maintaining essential services like public education. The restoration of these agreements, and potentially the $22.5 million in state funding, could help CCPS avoid future budget crises.
Governor Moore’s administration has not yet responded to the request. However, the outcome of the state’s decision could have lasting implications for the county’s education system and its fiscal stability in the years to come.
