Annapolis, MD – Northern Harford County State Senator Barry Glassman spent a good deal of time over the summer meeting with representatives of local farmer’s markets, market producers, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), and the Maryland Department of Agriculture to streamline some of the regulations related to Producer Mobile Farmer’s Licenses.
Last week the Maryland Senate voted unanimously for SB 198 – Farmer’s Markets – Raw Agricultural Product Sale – Producer Mobile Farmer’s Market Licenses and SB 199 – Seasonal Farmer’s Market Producer Sampling Licenses.
The Producer Mobile Farmer’s Market License will permit producers who currently obtain an on-farm home processing license to also obtain a mobile license at the same time. The bill also spells out that a license or permit is not required to deliver pre-packaged foods to fill an order of a customer. ...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
Annapolis, Md. – Harford County Senator Barry Glassman R-35 will be introducing a pair of Bills to update Maryland’s Property Taxpayers Bill of Rights
Currently, the State Department of Assessment and Taxation (“SDAT”) is receiving approximately 59,000 property tax appeals. To states falling housing market and local citizen’s awareness of the downturn in the market and the value of their homes has raised awareness on the SDAT’s current assessment procedure. Although Maryland currently has a taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, Senator Glassman wants to update some of the provisions which would allow a property tax appealer to record their local hearing, have a right to change jurisdiction when agreed upon, and agree upon a reasonable amount of time to present their case. The Senator’s legislation would also allow a property owner to receive the actual comparables and evaluation from SDAT upon the ...Continue Reading
The following letter was sent by Roy Whiteley, president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation, to Maryland state senators. A copy was provided to The Dagger:
Dear Senators
For the past several years, a bill has been introduced to the Budget and Taxation committee by Senator Barry Glassman and the Harford County Delegation only to be shoved in a drawer never to see the light of day or debate. It is time to change that stonewalling action. This bill needs to be acted upon by all of the Senators we elect. Many of your constituents strongly support that position. This year, as SB 458, the bill is again introduced to create a Task Force to review the property tax assessment and assessment appeals procedures. WE NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT TO MAKE THIS BILL RECEIVE A FAVORABLE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND BE RELEASED TO THE FLOOR FOR ACTION BY ALL OF OUR ...Continue Reading
The property tax assessment process in Maryland is broken, and a task force will find ways to fix it. That’s the thinking behind proposed legislation getting a push from elected officials and tax-payer advocates in Harford County.
With Senator Barry Glassman and Delegate H. Wayne Norman as lead sponsors in the State Senate and House of Delegates respectively, identical bills entitled: “Task Force to Review Property Tax Assessment Procedure and the Assessment Appeals Process.” were recently cross-filed in the Maryland General Assembly.
The co-sponsors of the House bill, HB 204, include every member of the Harford Delegation.
Here’s how Delegate Norman explained the purpose of the task force bill in a letter to his colleagues:
“Under HB 204, the task force would be comprised of Maryland residents with substantive and professional experience in property evaluations. The task force members also would represent all parts of Maryland and have firsthand knowledge about ...Continue Reading
ROCKS, MD Jan. 28 — In response to citizen complaints, the State Highway Administration today removed workers from MD 24 in Rocks State Park who had been drilling for soil samples and cutting trees along the hillside just south of St. Clair Bridge Road. Residents complained the work was unnecessary if the SHA had put a stop to a plan to blast rocks along the roadway.
Deborah Coomes, who lives near the park, said her husband, Mike Coomes, heard a chain saw in the morning and went out to see what was happening. He said the road had been closed “to cut down a fairly large tree in order to get their drilling equipment high up on the hillside in a new location.” Coomes then went to the state park office, where staff told him they were unaware that trees were being cut down and that they ...Continue Reading
The entirety of Harford County’s delegation to the Maryland General Assembly has signed on to co-sponsor a bill aimed at reviewing state property tax assessment procedures, the assessment appeals process, and producing a report on those findings by 2011.
House Bill 204, which is sponsored by Del. Wayne Norman and co-sponsored by the remainder of the Harford delegation – Dels. Rick Impallaria, Mary-Dulany James, J.B. Jennings, Susan McComas, Pat McDonough, Dan Riley, and Donna Stifler, would establish “a Task Force to Review Property Tax Assessment Procedure and the Assessment Appeals Process; establishing the composition of the Task Force; requiring the Governor to designate the chair of the Task Force; providing for the staffing for the Task Force; prohibiting a member of the Task Force from receiving specified compensation; requiring that the Task Force issue a report by January 1, 2011; and providing for the termination of the Act.”
Proposed Changes to Senate Rules Good News for Marylanders
Annapolis, MD- In an effort to better inform the public through greater access to the state legislative process, Senator Barry Glassman R-35 joined Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman (R- Carrol & Howard Counties) and Senate Majority Whip Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford & Cecil Counties) this week in supporting changes to the rules governing the Senate
If approved by the Senate, beginning immediately, these new Senate rules will provide the public with “real time” internet access to all Senate committee votes, as well as, specifically address the public’s right to attend all Senate committee meetings, including Senate committee voting sessions.
“Marylanders are seeking more transparency and timely access in the legislative process. My proposal represents an important step towards expanding this access to all individuals even those that cannot be present in Annapolis during our deliberation,” said ...Continue Reading
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
Annapolis, MD: Senator Barry Glassman R-35 has begun accepting applications for his 2010 Maryland State Senatorial scholarship program.
The program is open to interested students in District 35. Applications can be found on the Senator’s website http://www.barryglassman.com. Applicants must submit a copy of their high school transcript as well as a brief narrative on how the scholarship can assist them with their educational goals. Additionally applicants must have filed a valid Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by March 1.
The deadline for applications is April 15th, 2010. Questions and concerns in regards to the program can be answered at the Senator’s Annapolis office at 1-800-492-7122 ext 3603.
