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DENTON – The Caroline County Commissioners, meeting Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, addressed a range of agenda items, including signing a contract to sell Daysprings Townhomes, introducing legislation concerning volunteer firefighters, setting up a design committee to study renovating or building the county corrections facility, and hearing recommendations to increase the salaries of future Boards of County Commissioners.
Tax credit for volunteer firefighters legislation introduced
A lengthy discussion ensued as the Commissioners introduced legislation to create a property tax credit for active volunteer firefighters in the county. Legislative Bill 2025-014 would create a new Article XIV of Chapter 166 in the County Code.
After weighing the merits of the modest tax credit against setting a precedent in a tight county and state fiscal environment, the three Commissioners advanced the legislation to a second reading Nov. 24, a third reading Dec. 9 and possible enactment on Jan. 24.
As a former volunteer firefighter, Vice President Larry Porter said he supported the legislation. “A lot of people need to understand that it’s not just getting on a fire truck. It’s not just pulling hoses and responding to accidents,” he said. “(It’s) giving your time on a Saturday and giving your time to cook chicken and giving your time to have gun bashes, … on a voluntary basis. So I would probably say that in some companies, the amount of time actually on fire scene or accident scene is probably equal to the fundraising time.”
Though supportive of the legislation’s intent, President Travis Breeding questioned, “Is it going to accomplish anything?”
Although the assessed cost to taxpayers would be an additional penny, Breeding said, “I don’t feel comfortable sitting in this chair and spending other people’s money when I know there are so many people who struggle.” He suggested a ballot referendum, and County Attorney Stewart Barroll said he was already researching whether that measure was feasible.
“If we can go to a referendum, I’ll think about that,” Porter said. “But I think that these are decisions that the three of us are elected to make.”
Breeding and Porter both said they saw “storm clouds coming” from state overspending.
Daysprings Townhomes sale approved
The Commissioners approved a contract to sell Dayspring Townhomes I and II in Ridgely for nearly $4.1 million. The buyers are Murugadoss Ramasamy and Jayabharathi Duraisamy, based in southeast Pennsylvania. County Administrator Katheleen Freeman said she had met with Hannah Henry Neighborhood Association and residents to hear “lingering concerns.” The county is obligated to notify tenants of the process.
“The signing of the contract sets off a flurry of different things that are going to happen,” Freeman said.
Compensation Review Commission makes recommendation
The Caroline County Compensation Review Commission, chaired by Rob Willoughby, presented a resolution to the Commissioners after studying the County Commissioner salaries of neighboring counties.
According to the resolution, “the current annual salary for the President of the Board of County Commissioners is $16,000 and for each Commissioner is $15,000, amounts which have remained unchanged since 2009.”
Recommending a “salary adjustment to take effect for the members of the next succeeding Board of County Commissioners, as required by State law,” the review commission proposed a salary increase of $24,000, with an additional increase of $2,000 per year for the subsequent three years, reaching $30,000 by the fourth year of the term. The President’s annual salary would begin at $25,000.
Formed by Nov. 8 legislation, members of the review commission were Sue Simmons, Dennis Farina, Cindy Towers, Tolbert Rowe and David Kibler, in addition to Willoughby.
“One thing that came up in our discussion was what I would consider a fairness issue,” Rowe said, adding that the number of Caroline commissioners was the fewest in the state. “So basically, the way I looked at it is, if you were … unionized, you (would’ve) been on strike a while ago, because we get an awful lot from the three of you, and we know that, and that’s why I think we were convinced that this needed to be a significant increase because it just didn’t make sense. It wasn’t fair.”
Another factor influencing the Commission’s recommendation was “the percentage of Commissioner pay related to median household income to try to keep it in line,” Willoughby said. “And median household income has jumped drastically due to inflation over that same time period.”
County Commissioner Frank Bartz thanked the review commission for understanding “the complexity of the job, where it has been to where it is now,” adding that it was a daily commitment.
Corrections facility’s future to be studied
After scrapping a possible joint partnership to form a regional correctional facility with Kent and Queen Anne’s counties earlier in the year, the Commissioners decided to form a study group of heads of relevant agencies to look into designing a new facility.
Breeding said he and Freeman recently attended a seminar led by “an architect and a consulting firm that specializes in the design and management of detention centers,” he said.
Breeding provided background information, saying that when the current Board of County Commissioners “was inaugurated, the county was very close to initiating an $8 million renovation of the existing detention center. We did some investigating into what the proposed renovations were going to entail and found that it was not going to address any of the exterior conditions of the building, … so it was basically just a renovation of about a third of the square footage of the existing detention center.”
The detention center is located on the waterfront across from the County Courthouse on Gay Street in Denton.
Breeding said correction services have evolved and include more than incarcerating those who have broken the law. It now includes drug rehabilitation and mental health services. State law also has strict guidelines to keep juveniles, men and women separated.
“I really believe that the most cost-effective way for the county to move forward and have a long-term solution is to pursue building a new facility somewhere in the county,” he said. To that end, he proposed establishing a design committee made up of county staff and town of Denton staff to study the feasibility of a new facility, which he estimated would cost $40 million, with the state picking up half the cost.
Given the “projected fiscal forecast for the state,” Porter said he agreed with forming a study committee, “but my strong preference would be to keep that facility where it is and do whatever we have to do there.”
The next meeting of the Caroline County Commissioners is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, in Room 106 of the County Courthouse, 109 Market St., Denton. Only four more meetings in the calendar year are scheduled.
To view the livestreamed Nov. 18 meeting, visit https://carolinecountymd.new.swagit.com/videos/361204.
