Harford County consists of 47 local PTA units with over 11,000 members. It is time to take action concerning the Harford County budget. Executive Craig is now formulating the 2011 budget to be given to the Harford County Council by April 1, 2010. Now is the time for PTA members to let the county executive know that we want our children’s education fully funded. The students in Harford County are our future and we must invest in the future today. Email Executive Craig and let him know that PTA is the voice of the children in Harford County. We need the Harford County Public Schools budget fully funded. You can email the executive at CountyExecutive@harfordcountymd.gov
The 2010 session of the Maryland General Assembly has been moving at a snail’s pace. Taxpayers and others may jump for joy and shout, “Thank God!” However, the 800 pound gorilla that is still standing is the budget. The budget process is moving slowly because the Governor has proposed what is actually an election year campaign budget. It is filled with tricks and gimmicks designed to balance the numbers and survive an election year. Most of the balancing acts are achieved through one-time transfers and extends a hand to Washington, hopefully, contemplating more federal money from Santa Claus Obama. Should the President fail to find anymore of our grandchildren’s money, the Maryland budget without the federal taxpayers’ subsidy could be in serious trouble.
The Governor has failed to initiate any honest structural cuts. In the next 5 years, ...Continue Reading
This week I shared with you a portion of the cost of cuts to local aid that are in some of the bills that are circulating the General Assembly. I want you to know that I have sent letters to our Cecil County Commissioners and Harford County Executive asking them what, if any, programs, jobs and projects would have to be reduced to accommodate this loss of funds. I want their input so I can make the best decisions for the people back home. I need to know that while we balance the budget and find places to cut we are also guarding the things about which people need and care.
Now that I have conducted three surveys and gotten a substantial number of responses, I want to share the results of the votes for those that responded through my email updates. The first ...Continue Reading
From Roy Whiteley, president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
On February 24, we addressed the Budget & Taxation Committee on SB 458 & SB 724. We were disappointed that more of you could not attend in support of these measures. However, even though our support at the Senate was not as good as it was for the House version, it was adequate and well presented; significant enough to be noticed.
Senator Barry Glassman made eloquent remarks in introducing both bills and their need for passage before introducing Tony and the writer. Our verbal supporting testimony was we feel unjustly foreshortened by Chairman Currie but Tony Passaro, Bel Air TEA Party founder and spokesman did his usual scholarly, humorous delivery that filled in the blanks. Ellie Dieglemann, Ocean City resident and Worcester County Commissioner candidate, together with first time Eastern Shore testier, Cathy Geisler made strong support comments. Currie allowed Cathy ...Continue Reading
I don’t care if an idea is a Republican idea or a Democrat idea, as long as it is a good idea for the people of Cecil and Harford Counties.
Although members of both parties serve on all our legislative committees and subcommittees I was pleased that both the House Appropriations Committee (on which I serve as the Chair of the Health and Human Resources subcommittee) and the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee invited the Republican leadership to formally present their suggestions and opinions to help Maryland continue balancing its budget while preserving the services that taxpayers count on.. The hearing was open to the public and much anticipated by all of who believe in true bipartisanship and the notion that as Henry Ford said “coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is
progress. Working together is success.”
The Governor admitted in his State of the State address that Maryland is in quite a bad fiscal position, yet he bragged that the State still has a AAA bond rating. On the surface, this seems good. But the ability to borrow money means the ability to put more financial debt onto the taxpayers and future taxpayers — our children and grandchildren — so that they can continue to push their failed fiscal agendas.
I thought the Governor’s most dangerous statement was when he said that it was government’s job to step up to the plate and help business. I haven’t spoken to any business people lately who believe they need any more “help” from the government. Quite to the contrary, they need the government to get off their backs and out of their pockets.
Harford County Council President Billy Boniface delivered his annual legislative address Tuesday night, citing the economy, budget, and property tax relief as the council’s priorities heading into 2010.
Addressing the slumping economy and its impact on Harford County’s budget, Boniface cautioned not to expect much in the way of new projects or programs.
“On the operating side it’s maintaining basic services without any bells and whistles. The Capital Program for this year; if the mortar isn’t being mixed or the dirt isn’t being moved, it’s most likely going to have to wait until things improve,” he remarked.
Boniface also said the council is determined to provide property tax relief for county residents.
“We lowered the homestead tax cap from a maximum allowed rate of 10% to 5% for this year forward, something no other Council since 1991 has had the fortitude to execute. We recently removed the service charge placed on those that choose ...Continue Reading
Harford County Executive David R. Craig delivered his annual State of the County Address before the Harford County Council on Tuesday night, promising “our budget will be truly balanced with no increase in the tax rate and be as close to the constant yield as we can estimate at this time.”
In the speech, Craig spoke of the difficulties of balancing revenues, expenditures, wants, and needs. “The balance for which we must strive is a balance between the taxes we pay and the services which we provide. And, which considers the public employee who is in the middle,” he said.
Craig opened his remarks with a remembrance of longtime Harford County Councilwoman Veronica Chenowith and recognized two former County Council Presidents who passed away in the last year – Joanne Parrott and John Hardwicke.
Typical of his addresses, Craig lauded the performance of each of his directors and their respective departments.
The following letter was sent by H. LeRoy Whiteley, Jr., president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
The March on Annapolis continues. This week Delegate Wayne Norman cross-filed HB 204 –the Task Force bill authored by Senator Barry Glassman. We need to this bill passed to have a study of the property assessment and appeals procedure performed with a positive result of a fair, equitable, unbiased, uniform, and up to date assessment system being developed so that property assessments are commensurate with actual market values.
You can find the full bill on line at www.mlis.state.md.us. Look for the scheduled hearing dateand attend the hearing. Sadly, the only way we seem to get any attention to get some elected officials to do the job they were elected to do, is to get in their face. Politicians only know numbers?? We need to fill the room to show we are serious. We will be ...Continue Reading
Every ten years, by law of the U.S. Constitution, the National Census counts every person in every state. Governor Martin O’Malley says, “The 2010 Census is coming and we must ensure that every Marylander in every neighborhood, community, village, town, city and county in our State is counted on Census Day: April 1, 2010.” And why is this so important? Because more than $400 billion in federal funding is distributed annually to states by population. An undercount of as little as 1.7% or 100,000 of Maryland’s 5.8 million residents translates into the loss of $1 billion over the ten years until the next Census. The census count also impacts representation in Congress and local government.
Based on the last Census in 2000, Harford County currently receives $698 per person. Do the math. That’s almost $7,000 per capita over a ten year ...Continue Reading
