I have introduced five pieces of legislation this year, and I’d like to give you a synopsis of them.
House Bill 653 – Taxes – Limitations is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 1 pm before the House Ways and Means Committee. It is modeled after California’s Proposition 13, which brought property tax reform to that state. This bill would set property values at their 2010 value and only allow property tax increases or decreases of 2% every two years based on the Consumer Price Index. It also prevents property values from being increased when the title is being changed due to death, divorce, or other circumstances where the property is staying in the hands of a family member. It also provides that, if a person’s property is purchased through condemnation, the assessed value of the new property ...Continue Reading
Aberdeen Communities Together (ACT), the grass-roots community action group largely responsible for ushering the current mayor and city council into office, is preparing to ask Aberdeen officials to take specific measures, several drastic, to reduce what they believe is are unfairly high costs of living and conducting business within the city limits.
In an email distributed this week, ACT organizers invited group members and city property owners to a meeting this Friday evening at the Aberdeen Senior Center, during which they plan on finalizing a letter to city officials laying out a plan and recommendations with the goal of “reducing the citizens’ out-of-pocket expenses.”
The letter, currently only in draft form, lists 10 suggested ways the city could reduce its expenses including “eliminating give-away programs for businesses,” reducing the number of city employees, implementing five furlough days, eliminating or restructuring the use of city vehicles, restructuring health insurance coverage and retirement systems, ...Continue Reading
Today, Delegate Wayne Norman (Republican, Harford Co./Dist. 35A) announced that he will donate the equivalent of eight days of his Delegate’s salary to the Arc Northern Chesapeake Region, a nonprofit based in Harford County that assists individuals with developmental disabilities.
On Thursday, House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller asked State legislators to voluntarily give up eight days’ pay in response to the Governor Martin O’Malley’s decision to furlough most State employees.
“While I certainly agree that all Maryland legislators should join in solidarity with the State’s workforce by participating in the furlough program, I have decided not to donate a portion of my salary to the State Treasury. Instead, I will give that money to a deserving charity based in Harford County,” said Delegate Norman.
“During this deep recession, many charitable organizations are struggling. And I believe a charity like the Arc will ...Continue Reading
Backing off a proposal to close the Fallston Library branch, Harford Library Director Audra Caplan announced yesterday that budget cuts would instead be felt across the system in the form of reduced hours of operation, cuts in materials and services, and job losses. The change in plans was to be formally approved by the Library Board of Trustees last night along with the FY10 budget, following a public hearing at 6 p.m. at Fallston High School.
Library Director Caplan said the move to keep Fallston open was in response to an “outpouring…from residents from all areas of the county”. She said “the message was clear” that cuts should be absorbed across the system in order to leave the doors open at all 11 branches.
The $1.6 million in cutbacks will be effective July 1. They are expected to include:
(Bel Air, MD) – - The Harford County Department of Human
Resources recently notified County government employees which work days will be used as unpaid furlough days. Five furlough days were submitted as a part of the FY2010 budget to offset local government funding cuts imposed by the State of Maryland.
County offices will be closed on the following days which have
been selected as unpaid furlough days:
- Friday, July 24, 2009
- Friday, September 4, 2009
- Monday, October 12, 2009
- Thursday, December 24, 2009, and
- Monday, April 5, 2010.
Employees who work at 24/7 water and waste water operations
or the personnel Emergency Operations Center will not follow the
same schedule as other employees and are being required to exhaust
their furlough days in lieu of other leave throughout the fiscal year.
Along with all County government offices, Harford County’s
five senior centers, its Parks and Recreation Centers, and Harford
Transit Bus Service will ...Continue Reading
By implementing system-wide layoffs, furloughs and salary reductions, slashing the materials budget by nearly 20%, and closing all branches of the Harford County Public Library system on Sundays, the Fallston Branch has been saved and will remain open.
The decision and recommendations of the Library Board of Trustees were announced during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
“The Board of Trustees has removed the closure of a branch, specifically Fallston, from the budget reduction proposal,” the press release states.
A public hearing on the budget proposal will proceed as planned on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at Fallston High School.
Here is the full press release:
Library Budget Reductions
The Harford County Public Library held a press conference at 3pm today at the Bel Air Branch to announce the Library Board of Trustees’ recommendations for the FY10 budget reductions and the impact these reductions will have on services throughout the county.
In a prepared statement read Thursday afternoon, County Executive David Craig assured the residents of Harford County, employees of the county, and the 34 workers who have lost, or will soon lose, their jobs that “we will get through this.”
In announcing that 34 employees have or will be terminated by the end of the week, Craig hinted there could be even more layoffs from outside agencies – including the library system, health department, and State’s Attorney’s Office.
Craig also warned that the budget cuts would affect more than just those who lost their jobs.
“Others will be more subtle – a delay in getting a permit, a slower response to a hazmat call, a library computer that cannot be accessed, a trail that will not be monitored, a longer trip to drop off recycling, a jury trial delayed, a playground that will not be updated,” he said.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, County Executive David Craig announced the county would be terminating the positions of at least 34 employees and further reducing existing services in order to meet the latest round of budget cuts.
The cuts are supposedly coming department by department, starting with several today and continuing with the balance tomorrow.
Check back with The Dagger for details as they become available.
Here is the official county release:
County Executive Announces Additional Budget Cuts for FY 2010
Furloughs and Layoffs to be Implemented
(Bel Air, MD) – - Harford County Executive David R. Craig has announced the final decisions with respect to budget cuts the Administration was required to make following adoption of the FY 2010 budget by the Harford County Council late last month. The additional budget cuts from the Harford County Council totaling more than $5 million become effective July 1.
Harford County Executive David Craig will announce layoffs and cuts to services during a 2 p.m. press conference Thursday, June 18, according to the county executive’s Chief of Staff Aaron Tomarchio. Tomarchio said the reductions are in response to the additional 5% cut in operating funds enacted by the Harford County Council on May 29th.
The cuts applied to all departments and agencies except public safety and education, in order to support a decrease in the real estate tax rate. Those cuts were later signed into law by Craig and further reduced the county executive’s proposed operating budget which already included reductions over FY09 and 5 furlough days for some county employees.
Mobilized by by a call from Harford County Education Association President Randy Cerveny, more than 100 Harford County teachers crowded the Board of Education meeting Monday night wearing red shirts reading “Respect” and “Time.”
Two of the speakers tried to address contract issues, one mentioned furloughs on Monday night, but were reminded by the Board of Education that the topic of furloughs could not be discussed.
Despite the gag-order, teachers were still able to get their point across, through their sheer presence and emotional testimony.
“I wish I didn’t have to bar tend to love teaching in Harford County,” said one local teacher, who has to work ...Continue Reading
