Even though Maryland eliminated $6.1 million in grant funding to Calvert County for FY2009, the Board of County Commissioners adopted a balanced budget of $221.3 million despite the projected budget shortfall.

Using the authority granted to it by the State, Calvert entered into a Payment in Lieu of Taxes program with Constellation Energy, owner of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. As a strong corporate community partner, Constellation entered into a 15-year agreement with the county whereby Constellation provides the county with funding in the amount of $6.1 million to compensate for the loss of the state grant moneys. This is in addition to its estimated annual taxes paid of $24.2 million.

Throughout the year, Calvert’s Capital Improvement Projects budget took into consideration the state of the economy and managed to include many planned projects; including some additional projects requested by County residents.
 
On-going was Calvert’s work to relieve traffic congestion on its central corridor, Route 2/4. It was able to continue funding portions of the Prince Frederick Loop Road, make significant improvements to Boyd’s Turn Road, Dowell Road and J.W. Williams Road.

The BOCC continued to support completion of several other transportation infrastructure projects throughout the county to ease congestion and improve safety. Some project highlights include:

  • Prince Frederick Loop Road – The Prince Frederick Loop Road is planned to circle Prince Frederick Town Center, allowing access to local businesses without having to access Maryland Route 2/4. Several sections of the project are complete, while a section of the Loop Road east of Maryland Route 2/4, known as Chesapeake Boulevard, is under construction and another section east of Maryland Route 2/4 is under design and right-of-way acquisition.
  • Dowell Road Widening Project – Engineering plans and specifications are under development to provide improvements to Dowell Road that will include wider travel lanes, a two-way center turn lane, bike lanes, sidewalks, drainage and safety improvements.
  • Fairground Road Improvements – Engineering plans are being developed to improve Fairground Road in Prince Frederick which will include wider travel lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks, water/sewer service, drainage and safety improvements.
  • The intersection of J.W. Williams Road and MD Route 231 at the College of Southern Maryland – Engineering plans and specifications are in development to provide improvements to the intersection that will include construction of a bypass lane, a dedicated eastbound left-turn lane, traffic signal modifications, drainage and safety improvements.


In the area of public education, the BOCC, the Calvert County Board of Education and the College of Southern Maryland continue to have a strong working relationship and commitment to providing quality school infrastructure and funding for education.

The County opened Barstow Elementary, the thirteenth elementary school. At year’s end, a new Calvert Middle School is being constructed and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 and a second building at CSM’s Prince Frederick campus is in the planning stages.

For K-12 public education, state law requires that local government fund no less than the amount per pupil that it provided the prior year. This is referred to as Maintenance of Effort (MOE), which makes a county eligible to receive state education funding. In Past years, Calvert routinely has  exceeded this minimum funding requirement.

For 2009, the BOCC and BOE col