Carroll County is strong, welcoming and resilient, yet the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a projected $5 million budget shortfall in fiscal 2026 and the implementation of the state’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future all pose challenges.

That was the message the five-member, all-Republican Board of Carroll County Commissioners conveyed at their annual State of the County address Tuesday, as each highlighted what they deemed past successes and the challenges that lie ahead.

“Heading into 2025 and fiscal 2026, Carroll County stands in a strong position,” District 5 Commissioner Ed Rothstein said during his speech inside the Carroll Arts Center in Westminster.

“However, it’s important to acknowledge that the line between very strong and just good enough is narrowing,” he said.

The State of the County address is sponsored each year by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. The audience Thursday included chamber members, county officials and residents interested in hearing from their five elected leaders.

“We owe this success to you, our residents,” Rothstein said. “You help focus our time and resources and budget to ensure we’re prioritizing the right things. We have a dedicated workforce, a top-tier education system, a robust economy, and a thoughtful approach to growth. Despite our strengths, we face challenges.”

The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a proposed 70-mile transmission line through Carroll, Frederick and Baltimore counties, is a major concern. The Public Service Enterprise Group has been contracted by PJM, the organization that operates and plans Maryland’s electric grid, to build the $424 million power line and have it up and running by June 2027.

Commissioners are adamantly opposed to the controversial project.

“Carroll County faces serious challenges in the coming year,” District 1 Commissioner Joe Vigliotti said. “The state of the county of our home is strong. That is because the relationships we continue to build to strengthen and grow have become more important than ever.”

But a controversy erupted this past summer.

“Since the summer, Carroll County has faced another threat unlike any in its history,” Vigliotti said. “That is the MPRP. The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project power lines would gouge a scar across our home. Four hundred and seventy-six acres of farmland, 125 acres of forest, 17 acres of wetlands and 156 properties have been targeted for evisceration by a New Jersey company, to provide Virginia with power from Pennsylvania, while using Maryland as a sacrificial throughway.

“The county commissioners, however, remain as committed against the power line as we did at the start,” he said. “Our opposition will continue without fail.”

District 3 Commissioner Thomas Gordon III agreed.

“On Thursday, July 11, a significant amount of the community attended a meeting regarding the proposed power line project in our county,” Gordon said. “A project that offered zero benefit to any of the county or any of its residents. This has been a challenging year in which many of us feel overwhelmed and disconnected at times for various reasons from each other and the communities around us.

“Times are hard, but on July 11 we stood together as one Carroll County,” Gordon said. “We took action. We came together regardless of political beliefs, whether you live in an apartment, a condo, a townhouse or you had a 200-year-old generational farm. We said, ‘No, this is not OK, and we’re going to protect what’s ours. Our farmland and our neighbor, our future and our county.’”

District 4 Commissioner Michael Guerin assured the audience that Carroll County taxpayers are getting their money’s worth because of the “dedicated” county government workforce.

“However, if you disagree, we want to hear from you,” he said. “It’s not my money, it’s your money.”

Guerin then slammed state leaders in Annapolis for mandating laws that the counties must enact.

“First and foremost is Annapolis,” he said. “The threat to our self-governance and home rule continues in the form of reckless policies, bad legislation, overreaching laws, increased regulations and higher taxes and fees which, from my understanding, may actually go up again.

“Worst of all, whether it’s state or our own federal government, common sense and capable leadership is in short supply,” he said.

He pointed to Maryland’s projected $3 billion budget deficit for fiscal 2026, blaming out-of-control spending.

Guerin said Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, an education reform plan that includes a variety of initiatives, from publicly funding pre-K to attracting high-quality teachers to providing poverty grants for schools with a high share of low-income students, is the costliest.

“A program that I still fail to see how it’s going to actually improve our county public school system for students,” he said.

Finally, District 2 Commissioners’ President Ken Kiler started off the event by talking about his love for Carroll County.

“We’re starting out our third year of serving,” he said. “I enjoy working with the fellow commissioners. What I enjoy most, we don’t always agree, and I feel strongly our diversified perspectives help us make the best decisions for Carroll County.”

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