Friday, May 24, 2013
The spending plan contains no income or property tax increases.
The Baltimore County Council unanimously approved a $2.8 billion spending plan proposed last month by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. The budget for the year that begins July 1 contains no property or personal income tax increases. The county has not raised property taxes in 25 years. The county income tax rate has not been raised in 21 years. Spending on education continues to represent the largest portion of the county budget. The county spends about 53 cents of every county tax dollar on K-12 education. Included school spending in the proposed budget includes: The council last week concluded two weeks of budget hearings after which the seven-member legislative group cut just $100,000. That reduction represented the correction of a math…
The Baltimore County Council lowers open space waiver fees charged to developers but gives more money to a group that protects open space in urban areas.
Developers will pay a little less to side-step open space requirements for residential projects but a group that helps protect open spaces in urban areas of the county will get a bigger cut under a bill passed by the Baltimore County Council. The council Thursday approved the bill that lowers the county's open space waiver fees. As part of the bill, the council also approved an amendment sponsored by Councilmen Quirk and David Marks that will give NeighborSpace of Baltimore County 20 percent of the fees collected. Six of the seven councilmen voted in favor of the bill. Council Chairman Tom Quirk voted against the measure. Prior to the passage of the bill Thursday, NeighborSpace could receive up to 10 percent of the waiver fees collected …
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The timing of a bill that reduces fees for developers comes as an August deadline looms for more than a dozen projects.
The Baltimore County Council Thursday is scheduled to vote on a bill that would lower the rates charged to developers who would rather pay a fee in lieu of setting aside a portion of a proposed development as open space. Michael Harrison, a lobbyist for the Home Builders Association of Maryland, said his group asked for the rates to be updated last November—the first such change in seven years. "The fees were set at the peak of the market and developers could afford those prices," Harrison said, adding that later it became apparent that a number of developers were in danger of losing their ability to move forward because they had not yet paid the waiver fees. If the council adopts the new fee schedule, developers would pay rates equivalent…
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Council correction of a $100,000 math error represents the smallest budget reduction in the last three years.
The Baltimore County Council Thursday took a little off the top of County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's third budget. The council cut just $100,000 from Kamenetz's proposed $2.8 billion spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1. That plan includes nearly $1.7 billion in general fund spending paid for with county property and piggyback income taxes. "It's a fiscally prudent budget," Council Chairman Tom Quirk, a Catonsville Democrat, said, explaining that the small reduction taken by the council was a reflection of the weakened economy and sluggish property tax receipts. "There really wasn't a lot to trim," Quirk said. "It's all muscle and bone." The proposed budget contains no furloughs or layoffs and no property or income tax …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Council Chairman Tom Quirk's verbal approval allows Baltimore County to jump the legal process and start using three new electric police vehicles.
Three new electric stand-up vehicles gifted to the Baltimore County Police Department aren't exactly street legal yet. But that didn’t stop county officials from putting them into service at the Towson Spring Festival, just three days after publicly showing them off at news conference. That's more than two weeks before the Baltimore County Council gets a chance to officially approve the acceptance of the $39,000 gift from Baltimore County Police Foundation. County law allows the county to accept gifts valued at $5,000 or more after sending the Council notice and giving them 14 days to decided if they want to formally discuss and vote on the gift. The Council Monday introduced a resolution seeking to approve the gift. That resolution will …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Baltimore County Council was about to end a public meeting on the budget as soon as it started but one late arrival arrived with something to say.
It almost happened again. For the second year in a row, the Baltimore County Council was on track to end its annual public hearing on County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's proposed budget as soon as it began. Just as Council Chairman Tom Quirk appeared ready to close the meeting, in walked Jean Suda, an education advocate and member of the Dulaney High School PTA. "I was so flabbergasted by the fact that nobody was there," Suda said following the meeting. The council typically holds the public to a 3 minute rule during public testimony in order to allow everyone to speak and have an equal say. Suda received that and more. In fact, the council staff didn't bother to turn on the timer as Suda addressed her comments regarding teacher to student …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A 2012 college teaching position held by Councilman David Marks, while legal, should have triggered an amended financial disclosure report.
Baltimore County Councilman David Marks said Thursday that a 2012 teaching job at a local university should have been part of his required financial disclosures. Marks acknowledged the job and failure to file an amended report last year with the Baltimore County Ethics Commission during an interview. "It was an oversight," Marks, a Perry Hall Republican, said after being asked about the job. The undisclosed teaching job as well as two previously disclosed consulting positions do not appear to violate county law. Marks said the teaching job will appear in disclosure forms that he has already filed that will be made public next month. Following the interview, Marks issued a statement by email: "As soon I was offered a three-month teaching …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The bill would impose fees on residents, businesses and nonprofits for federally mandated efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
At least two members of the Baltimore County Council say they would like to delay a vote on proposed stormwater management fees. Vicki Almond and David Marks both said Tuesday they would like to delay the vote for a month. "Considering the enormity of all this and the information that we have I would personally like us to have a little more time to come up with some amendments and really study this even further," said Almond, a Reisterstown Democrat. "I think three weeks really isn't enough to digest all of this," Almond said, speaking of a briefing the council received last month. Almond added that County Executive Kevin Kamenetz developed the new fees without involving the council or holding any public meetings. The council, in its …
Monday, April 1, 2013
The resolution would have lowered fees for developers who seek waivers to open space requirements in county development law.
A resolution lowering fees for developers who want to bypass open space requirements for developments will not be voted on Monday night by the Baltimore County Council. The resolution to lower the fees was withdrawn after Council Chairman Tom Quirk raised questions about the proposal and its effect on open space programs in the county. "I was concerned it might have an unintended negative effect on NeighborSpace and wanted to look more at the [county's] analysis," Quirk said. "Open space programs and programs like NeighborSpace are critical to our quality of life and help increase property values, as well." County Executive Kevin Kamenetz asked for the decreases after saying a review of the county law showed that property values had …
Monday, March 18, 2013
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz seeks a reduction in fees charged to developers who want a waiver on open space.
UPDATED (10:07 p.m.)—Protesters will have to stay a little farther away from public and private schools if one Baltimore County Councilman gets his way. County Councilman Todd Huff, a Timonium Republican, introduced a bill Monday night that will require protesters to stay at least 300 feet from the entrance of a public or private elementary, middle or high school. Protests would be prohibited during school hours or within one hour before or after school hours. It would also be illegal to block or prevent the use of public streets, sidewalks or other spaces while protesting. Violators would be subject to a fine of $1,000 or up to a 90-day jail sentence or possibly both. "It's another layer of protecting our kids," Huff said. "That's it, the…
Moe green
4:20 pm on Friday, May 24, 2013
God forbid the taxpayers should pay less and not be treated like an ATM more ›