Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley is proposing to keep the property tax rate stable and increase elected officials’ salaries as part of the nearly $200 million budget. Buckley was set to present his budget to the city council Monday evening.

This year’s operating budget is Buckley’s last due to term limits and will use about $184 million in city revenue and $15 million in reserve funds to foot the bill.

If adopted by the council later this summer, the budget would keep property taxes at $1.94 on each $100 of assessed value.

“It’s a sound fiscally responsible budget, but at the same time, it takes on big projects,” Buckley said in a Monday interview.

Among the priorities in Buckley’s spending plan are giving Annapolis elected officials and the appointed city manager a raise as well as a program to help Annapolis landscapers transition to electric leaf-blowers after gas leaf-blowers were banned earlier this year.

The voucher program, which is still under development, will give discounts to landscapers and residents for electric leaf blowers.

The council adopted recommendations to increase salaries for its elected officials in March. The Salary Review Commission determined that the current compensation for the eight council members, the mayor, and the appointed city manager was “inadequate” and “in many cases significantly below those offered in other comparable jurisdictions around the country.”

Currently, the mayor makes $98,000 while all eight council members are paid around $18,500, plus an expense allowance. It is unclear if Buckley’s proposed budget would increase the mayor’s salary to $120,000 and council members’ to $32,000, as recommended by the salary commission. Asked what the budget item includes, Buckley endorsed increasing council member salaries, but could not say how much the raise would be. Compensation for the appointed city manager position would range from $250,000 to $294,000, according to the commission.

Any final salary increases would have to be adopted through legislation.

The mayor is also expected to introduce a capital improvement plan outlining the city’s development projects. While the total figure was not available by press time Monday, Buckley pointed to several new projects including $1.3 million for the Weems Whalen Field on Spa Road. The field, next to the old Public Works building, was the subject of environmental concerns last summer. The old Public Works building went through an environmental assessment to see if it could be converted to a residential property, which would support the housing goals outlined in a federally approved plan to redevelop two Eastport communities.

Weems Whalen, which is separate from the residential development plan, had already been classified as contaminated with chemicals such as arsenic and chromium with a remediation plan in place to “put it back into service,” Vogel said last year.

“In this budget, we’ve worked with the Comptroller [of Maryland] to see the eligibility for open space funds for it, and so we’re going to be doing a turf field at Weems Whalen and bringing back the Weems Field,” Buckley said.

Over the next two months, the Finance Committee will examine the budget, with the first work session scheduled for Thursday.

The city council is expected to adopt a final budget plan by June 30 with it taking effect July 1.

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