Town Council — 2026-03-19

This is the minutes of the Town of Centreville FY2027 budget work session held March 19, 2026. No citizens spoke. The Council heard a donation request from the Queen Anne’s County Historical Society (original ask $8,500; revised request $6,900 for the front façade and south wall of Wrights Chance; full building estimate $13,000) and agreed to revisit donation allocations later in the budget process. Staff discussed salary changes tied to a compensation/classification study: a 40th-percentile proposal with step adjustments and a 3% mid-year COLA is included in the draft and staff asked that approved salary adjustments begin April 1, 2026; Paypoint HR will present market comparisons. Department budget decisions and follow-ups included increasing the legislative dinner line from $5,000 to $8,000, removing a $65,000 parking study from Planning, and converting the current part-time Main Street/Economic Development role into a potential full-time Main Street/Economic Development Manager (salary estimated $75,000–$85,000; fully loaded cost estimated $120,000–$150,000) with a draft to be prepared. Council asked for a clear list of consultants/contract services (vendor, amount, and purpose) after discussing lobbying payments (Harris Jones and Malone were noted for helping secure $16 million in funding). The Street Department confirmed training/CEU lines exist and two new full-time positions appear in the working draft (historical staffing/FTE data requested). Council reviewed Main Street events: Centreville Day (community-building), Maryland Crafted (staff-time and revenue concerns), and First Fridays (high community value but heavily reliant on volunteer labor and one councilmember’s time; Ms. Kaiser will be unavailable and staffing decisions are needed).