New commissioners take office as Rosemont passes budget

Yahoo

07-06-2025

The village of Rosemont passed its budget for fiscal year 2026 on Monday as two new commissioners took office.
Rosemont plans to use its $101,000 budget on $75,625 worth of expenditures, while transferring the remaining $25,375 to savings, according to village records.
That compares to a $94,040 budget for fiscal year 2025, including $74,730 in expenses and $19,310 in savings, according to the records.
Commissioner Robin Scarff said that the village has always been 'very fiscally conservative.'
Scarff said that in her time in village government, the commissioners and burgess have sought to use tax funds, when possible, to benefit residents rather than forcing a single resident to bear the burden on their own. Thus, she said, Rosemont looks to 'stockpile in case of emergency.'
'We just feel all of our tax dollars should be benefiting residents and we don't want to waste it,' Scarff said.
She credited Beth Coyne, Rosemont's clerk, with doing a 'thorough' and 'excellent job' on research to benefit residents.
One change to the services for residents involves bulk trash and yard waste removal.
In years past, the village offered an annual service of bulk trash and yard waste removal.
The village approved a budget for FY 2026 that would include two such pickups with a new vendor.
Coyne said the dates have not yet been set, but would probably be in October and April.
The village will pay $5,350 for the twice-a-year service in the upcoming fiscal year — $1,000 more than it did the previous fiscal year, according to village records.
Commissioner Mark Rohner said the bulk trash and yard waste pickup is a 'good service that the village provides to residents.'
Burgess John Leach called the FY26 budget 'pretty status quo' and characterized the changes between the first read in March and the final budget approved on Monday as minor.
'The budget was great,' Leach said.
Aside from wages, auditing services and the trash pickups, the largest expenses in the budget were speed enforcement, streetlights and maintenance of Merryland Park.
'Those things don't change much year to year,' Rohner said.
Leach said the village is considering getting new mulch for the playground at Merryland Park, due to the current surface 'looking aged and we want to get that spruced up.'
The park is owned by the state, but Rosemont mows the lawns and otherwise manages the upkeep.
Leach said the village will explore state funding options for the new mulch, but is open to paying for the special playground mulch itself.
New commissioners
Former Commissioners Stephen Harshman and Daniel Houck did not seek re-election for another two-year term.
New Commissioners Rohner and Sean Byrons were sworn in on Monday after being nominated in March and running unopposed for the two open seats.
Rohner said he and his wife have lived in Rosemont for eight years.
He said they enjoy that it has residential and agricultural elements while also being close to bigger cities in Brunswick and Frederick, calling it the 'best of both worlds.'
Rohner said Rosemont needs to stay independent, so it can control issues that may arise related to land use.
'I don't really have any of my own personal agenda in mind other than keeping things as they are,' he said.
Rohner said he and his wife have known Leach since they arrived and he looks forward to working with the burgess on civic matters.
'I couldn't wait to get Mark Rohner on the board,' Leach said.
He said he was 'tickled to death' having Rohner and Byrons as commissioners, because 'we're trying to get younger people involved.'
Scarff echoed the burgess's point about younger perspectives continuing to keep the village an independent municipality and maintaining the way of life the community loves.
'We like it rural and we intend to keep it that way,' she said.
'We like our neighborhood. We like our set-up,' Leach said.
He added that one way he tracks community sentiment is by looking at 'for sale' signs.
Leach said 'happy campers' do not want to move out of a thriving community they enjoy being part of.
'If you ride around and look, you don't see 'for sale' signs,' he said.