Fiscal Efficiency Audit Dashboard
Data: Frederick County Annual Budget Documents | FY2020-FY2025
We compare budget growth against three inflation measures to provide perspective: BLS CPI-U (official government measure, ~19% cumulative 2020-2024), Truflation (real-time blockchain-based index, ~19-20%), and Chapwood Index (measures actual cost of 500 items in major cities, ~41% cumulative). The truth likely lies somewhere in between these measures.
While the school share of total budget has declined slightly (57.2% to 55.0%), absolute funding increased from $196.2M to $271.0M (+38.2%). The county's General Fund transfer to school operating increased from $86.4M to $109.0M (+26.1%). School debt service and capital transfers have remained relatively flat.
| Category | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Fund (FT) | 620 | 637 | 657 | +37 (+6.0%) |
| General Fund (PT) | 302 | 402 | 410 | +108 (+35.8%) |
| School Funds (FT) | 2,387 | 2,453 | 2,473 | +86 (+3.6%) |
| All Funds (FT) | 3,278 | 3,363 | 3,404 | +126 (+3.8%) |
| Sheriff | 157.5 | 157.5 | 164.5 | +7 (+4.4%) |
| Fire & Rescue | 153.5 | 161.5 | 169.5 | +16 (+10.4%) |
| Regional Jail | 213 | 213 | 213 | 0 (0%) |
This section provides detailed expenditure and personnel data at the individual department level, extracted from Frederick County's comprehensive annual budget documents. Data shows Personnel costs, Operating expenses, and Capital expenditures for each department.
| Category / Department | Personnel | Operating | Capital | Total | % of GF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfers & Non-Departmental (54.3%) | |||||
| Transfer to School Operating | - | $109,016,000 | - | $109,016,000 | 42.5% |
| Transfer to School Debt Service | - | $20,460,000 | - | $20,460,000 | 8.0% |
| Transfer to School Capital | - | $4,000,000 | - | $4,000,000 | 1.6% |
| Debt Service, Contingency, Reserves | - | $5,713,000 | - | $5,713,000 | 2.2% |
| Subtotal Transfers | - | $139,189,000 | - | $139,189,000 | 54.3% |
| Public Safety (19.5%) | |||||
| Fire and Rescue | $21,751,000 | $2,206,000 | $251,000 | $24,209,000 | 9.4% |
| Sheriff | $18,977,000 | $2,784,000 | $885,000 | $22,646,000 | 8.8% |
| Public Safety Communications | $1,964,000 | $657,000 | $124,000 | $2,745,000 | 1.1% |
| Inspections | $1,587,000 | $91,000 | $3,000 | $1,681,000 | 0.7% |
| Subtotal Public Safety | $44,279,000 | $5,738,000 | $1,263,000 | $51,281,000 | 20.0% |
| Health & Welfare (5.4%) | |||||
| Social Services (Admin) | $8,764,000 | $602,000 | $296,000 | $9,662,000 | 3.8% |
| Public Assistance Programs | - | $2,100,000 | - | $2,100,000 | 0.8% |
| Health Dept & Other | - | $2,000,000 | - | $2,000,000 | 0.8% |
| Subtotal Health & Welfare | $8,764,000 | $4,702,000 | $296,000 | $13,762,000 | 5.4% |
| General Government Administration (7.7%) | |||||
| Information Technology | $1,352,000 | $472,000 | $1,024,000 | $2,849,000 | 1.1% |
| Treasurer | $1,590,000 | $674,000 | $1,000 | $2,266,000 | 0.9% |
| Commissioner of Revenue | $1,966,000 | $119,000 | $6,000 | $2,091,000 | 0.8% |
| County Office Buildings | - | $1,880,000 | $3,000 | $1,882,000 | 0.7% |
| Finance | $1,288,000 | $35,000 | - | $1,323,000 | 0.5% |
| County Administrator | $1,144,000 | $47,000 | - | $1,191,000 | 0.5% |
| Human Resources | $736,000 | $426,000 | $5,000 | $1,167,000 | 0.5% |
| Other Admin Departments | $2,500,000 | $4,500,000 | $30,000 | $7,030,000 | 2.7% |
| Subtotal Administration | $10,576,000 | $8,153,000 | $1,069,000 | $19,799,000 | 7.7% |
| Parks, Recreation & Cultural (4.0%) | |||||
| Recreation Centers | $3,372,000 | $1,020,000 | - | $4,392,000 | 1.7% |
| Parks (Admin + Sites) | $2,500,000 | $1,600,000 | $200,000 | $4,300,000 | 1.7% |
| Regional Library | - | $1,500,000 | - | $1,500,000 | 0.6% |
| Subtotal Parks/Rec/Cultural | $5,872,000 | $4,120,000 | $200,000 | $10,192,000 | 4.0% |
| Other (9.1%) | |||||
| Judicial Administration | $3,400,000 | $500,000 | $30,000 | $3,930,000 | 1.5% |
| Public Works | $2,300,000 | $4,600,000 | $250,000 | $7,150,000 | 2.8% |
| Community Development | $1,500,000 | $600,000 | - | $2,100,000 | 0.8% |
| Miscellaneous & Other | $3,600,000 | $6,300,000 | $100,000 | $10,000,000 | 3.9% |
| Subtotal Other | $10,800,000 | $12,000,000 | $380,000 | $23,180,000 | 9.0% |
| GENERAL FUND TOTAL | $80,291,000 | $173,902,000 | $3,208,000 | $256,303,000 | 100.0% |
| Fund | Personnel | Operating | Capital | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Jail | $22,067,000 | $7,169,000 | $180,000 | $29,416,000 |
| Landfill (Enterprise) | $2,986,000 | $4,573,000 | $4,284,000 | $11,843,000 |
| Regional Airport | $1,123,000 | $1,967,000 | $92,000 | $3,182,000 |
| EMS Revenue Recovery | $200,000 | $2,400,000 | $200,000 | $2,800,000 |
| Other Special Revenue Funds | $1,200,000 | $2,500,000 | $300,000 | $4,000,000 |
| Total Other Funds | $27,576,000 | $18,609,000 | $5,056,000 | $51,241,000 |
| Department | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 | 4-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire and Rescue | 153.5 | 161.5 | 169.5 | 185.5 | 193.5 | +40 (+26.1%) |
| Sheriff | 157.5 | 157.5 | 164.5 | 168.5 | 171.5 | +14 (+8.9%) |
| Social Services | 83.0 | 84.0 | 87.0 | 90.0 | 88.0 | +5 (+6.0%) |
| Parks and Recreation | 42.0 | 43.0 | 43.0 | 43.0 | 43.0 | +1 (+2.4%) |
| COR/Reassessment | 24.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | +1 (+4.2%) |
| Public Safety Communications | 17.0 | 19.0 | 20.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | +5 (+29.4%) |
| Commonwealth Attorney | 16.0 | 16.0 | 17.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 | +2 (+12.5%) |
| Inspections | 17.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 0 (0%) |
| IT/MIS | 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 0 (0%) |
| Planning and Development | 11.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | +1 (+9.1%) |
| Maintenance | 10.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | +1 (+10.0%) |
| Regional Jail | 213.0 | 213.0 | 213.0 | 215.0 | 219.0 | +6 (+2.8%) |
| General Fund Total (FT) | 620 | 637 | 657 | 681 | 695 | +75 (+12.1%) |
| Category | Amount | Per Capita | % of General Fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Fund Total | $239.5M | $2,575 | 100% |
| Public Safety | $56.4M | $607 | 23.6% |
| General Gov't Admin | $18.5M | $199 | 7.7% |
| Health & Welfare | $12.9M | $139 | 5.4% |
| Parks & Recreation | $10.0M | $107 | 4.2% |
| Public Works | $7.3M | $79 | 3.1% |
| Judicial Admin | $3.7M | $40 | 1.5% |
| Community Development | $2.6M | $28 | 1.1% |
| Transfer to Schools | $122.1M | $1,313 | 51.0% |
| Source | Data | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Frederick County Budget Documents | Annual adopted budgets, expenditures by category, personnel counts | FY2020-FY2026 |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics | Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) | 2020-2024 |
| Truflation | Real-time inflation index | 2020-2024 |
| Chapwood Index | Alternative inflation measure (500 items) | 2020-2024 |