The following letter was released by Tony Passaro of the Bel Air TEA Party Patriots and Roy Whitley of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
As of November, 2009, the writers were privileged to serve on the “Harford County
Financial Plan Advisory Committee” appointed by County Executive David R. Craig.
This 23 person committee was ably chaired by County Treasurer John Scotten. Mr. Scotten was competently aided by ten members of his staff. In addition, twelve business, financial, industry, and management leaders served as overseers and consultants throughout the intervening months. Each week, we reviewed, commented upon, and revised the 12-year old fiscal policy employed by Harford County in its daily operations.
We found the initial policies to be extremely well written, well administered, and able to stand the test of time. The Policy only required minor revisions and updates to concur with changes in current laws and operating conditions. It can be unequivocally stated, that the Treasurer and his staff have and do account adequately for every item within the budget and their purview.
However, of major concern to us and others on the committee is the fact that certain items are almost always blindly accepted, tracked, and counted. This without regard to fiduciary responsibility, efficiency, good business practices, or an eye toward reducing redundant operations….
These oversights cause major drains on the budget i.e. the taxpayers of Harford County are paying about $75 million more than they should…It is felt that these egregious errors in judgment be addressed as part of the fiduciary responsibility of the Treasurer and the Administration.
The most glaring items demanding both attention and corrective action are:
· Board of Education budget
The Harford County Board of Education budget for fiscal year 2009-2010 was 51% of the County general fund appropriations budget. Property owner/taxpayers are saddled with property taxes supplying 50% of county revenues and with income taxes supplying 27% of county revenues plus all other taxes imposed from our daily activities.
The County Executive and County Council are limited by state laws as to how much control they have over the funding/spending of this entity.
Management and business practices of The Board Of Ed have often been cited as questionable. The Board of Education is clearly very top heavy. Only part of The Board and Administration are elected. Their accountability, management, and business practices are currently above reproach and are not subject to regular questions or apparent “outside review”.
· Board of Education Maintenance of Effort (MOE).
The “Maintenance of Effort Rate” (each county MUST spend no less per pupil in the current budget than it did in the prior budget year) was set several years ago when the State’s economy was booming.
Now, in spite of the recession we are being forced to use an artificially high factor to set our Education Budget spending rate…. It stands to reason the since this factor was set when the State had copious revenues it is now too high and must be lowered in this time of scarcity.
Montgomery County along with several other Counties have petitioned the General Assembly to have it’s rate lowered and are asking that the $29 million dollar penalty for not observing the rate be waived….that is correct, if a County fails to spend at the “MOE” level it is penalized $29 million dollars by the State. Seems like when we do not have the revenue, the State forces the Counties to pay a penalty. Draconian at best……..
· Redundant Personnel and Services
A synopsis report (see attached spread sheet) furnished to us, identifies several areas of major redundant spending in Harford County.
The four entities that comprise our County: the Local Government, the Board of Education, the Public Libraries, and the Community College are all guilty of redundant spending……..
Notably, Grounds and Facility Maintenance for Parks and Recreation, a major cost item was not included. A total of 486 persons costing about $69 million dollars are employed doing a number of identical jobs and using duplicate tools, equipment, supplies, and services. It is estimated that 40% of this redundant effort can be eliminated saving the taxpayers about $28 to $35 million?? without the loss of any services to the Taxpayers…..
Four identical Human Resources Departments (one for each of the aforementioned entities) employ 49 people. These operate in their own fiefdoms w/o outside review or control.
One hundred twenty-two Information Technology personnel operate in two separate and un-coordinated IT Departments….each area with its own set of different systems and controls. Fortunately two entities, the Libraries and Community College were wise enough to outsource their IT service saving millions for the Taxpayers….
Forty nine Construction Management personnel operate in each of these four entity areas. In addition, twelve Fleet Management personnel operate similar Motor Pool functions for the County.
It is strongly suggested that we centralize and outsource the Fleet Management or Motor Pool services for all County equipment and vehicles. This action would most likely save the County millions as the two outsourcing entities have apparently discovered in outsourcing their IT services……..
No centralized procurement system exists. Thirty two personnel administer this function in their separate areas. By far, the largest non-centralized redundant effort exists in the grounds/maintenance facilities where 486 employees perform the needed work with separately purchased, redundant and maintained facilities, supplies and equipment. This does not include the unaccounted for redundancy within the Department of Recreation and Parks.
Harford County Department of Economic Development
In addition to the aforementioned items, it is strongly recommended that the Department of Economic Development be “Beefed Up” and directed to more aggressively seek out and recruit companies to locate in Harford County. These companies would help enhance the Counties tax revenues. The following 3 step program is suggested…..
1. Identify:
Employ the services of a consulting company and charge them with identifying 75 to 100 desirable companies that need what Harford can provide…
2. Package:
Develop a series of inducements, tax holidays, favorable zoning, bond issues, set asides, free land, buildings and etc. to induce the companies to relocate some of their operations in Harford County.
3. Recruit:
Have a high level Harford County Executive (Treasury, Executive, etc.) contact the Chairman of the Board of each of the targeted companies and offer to fly out to make a presentation, in their Board Room, of what Harford County is willing to do to get them (the companies) to move some of their operations into Harford County….
The intention of the aforementioned 3 step program is to raise the Counties tax revenues by bringing in many new companies to our area.
The Harford County Business Incubator:
This is a good start, however, it must be publicized, (none apparent yet) and a method of securing SBA loans through a local bank for business start up loans be made available….A Business Incubator will provide an excellent environment for entrepreneurs to operate out of. This will go a long way towards encouraging the growth of local businesses….
No accountability for the Sheriff?
I did not see anything about the Sheriff’s Office. If that operation and current business as usual spending were to be thoroughly examined the taxpayers would be outraged. I know I am. Most citizens are told “We can’t sacrifice public safety”, and while we should not, we should still hold the Sheriff accountable for his expenditures. His money is derived from the County.
Here are just a few examples of the current Sheriff’s spending habits:
He hires more deputies as statistics show violent crime is down not only in Harford County, but nationwide. Instead of using the existing manpower more efficiently he just keeps adding personnel to throw at problems that manpower alone cannot solve. Had he not hired those deputies for one year the County would have survived. Those newly hired deputies require massive amounts of resources to put on the road. Training, benefits, equipment, and salary cost taxpayers and enormous amount of money. The portable radio’s alone cost about $4,000 each.
He purchases gas guzzling vehicles when other more efficient vehicles are available. Against the advice of his commanders the Sheriff continues to purchase specialty vehicles for his favorite Union supporters. Why are SUV’s required to transport non-violent arrestee’s?
The Sheriff’s office is building a new detention center facility, and needs to hire about 80 new correctional officers. That $25 million expense alone would shock a normal person. While it can be debated from many points of view, the sad fact is, crime is down. Instead of trying to solve the issues that cause people to be arrested we just keep building more jail cells. (If the Sheriff was in charge of our medical profession he would continue to build more cemeteries to collect the dead people instead of trying to find cures for the illnesses causing them to die)
The Sheriff is planning a new Southern Precinct facility requiring another 12 million or so of taxpayers’ money. In these budget strapped times is this the best use of that money?
The Sheriff is paying deputies’ overtime to go to court for criminal cases where they are not needed. The deputies will summons each other to testify when they are not really needed. He does not want to upset a few of the veteran Union deputies who have been blatantly gathering this overtime for years. Even though they know in advance that they are not needed they still go to court, they sit in the back row and collect about $50.00 an hour for doing nothing. Can someone say “ethics”? That same Overtime money could be better spent on saturation patrols in the high-crime areas of the county. But that would require those same veteran deputies to do some work.
Despite the Sheriff holding his commanders accountable for their overtime expenses he has authorized overtime to an administrative civilian who cannot manage her workload. (She was a close family friend that he hired and who had no workplace expertise. She had no skills whatsoever but he put her on the payroll (without running a background check). She is more clueless than he is.
The Sheriff volunteers his resources to private organizations that cost taxpayers. He volunteers to pay for processes for these organizations that the everyday citizen’s would have to pay. Why does he do this? Several reasons: 1-He buys votes. 2-Because he is an unethical person and he is the King of his kingdom. He knows there is no accountability. He can spin the expenses and no one knows any better. The Sheriff just spends and spends without prioritizing. Every time he does the taxpayer’s take another hit.
(Should I mention the fact that the Sheriff had a deputy driving voter’s to the polls during the last election?)
These are but a few examples. I am a taxpayer in Harford County and I am outraged. We need a Sheriff who can make sound business decisions and who won’t take advantage of citizen’s in the name of public safety.
Retired Cop – Outstanding points. Cheers for Mr. Passaro and Mr. Whitley for all of their efforts to date. It would be nice if Mr. Passaro and Whitley performed the same type of analysis of the Sheriff’s Department but if not the Taxpayers appreciate the good work so far.
It is common knowledge that Jesse Bane does not have the courage to rock the boat. He manages by “going along to get along” at the expense of the Taxpayers. His time as Sheriff will be over come November.
I am surprised that there’s no mention of the HCSO in this article.
In defense of expanding the jail and building a new Southern Precinct, both are long overdue and have been planned for years. At one point the jail had multiple inmates sleeping on the floor due to a lack of beds (I don’t know if that’s still the case.) When you have an area designed to hold 20 people and you cram 22 or 23 people in there it becomes a major safety issue for everyone involved (inmates, officers, and medical staff.)
As for the new precinct, that project has been delayed multiple times due to the budget and according to the original plans I believe it should have been completed years ago, but they haven’t even broken ground yet. There are over 100 deputies working out of a precinct the size of a 7-11 and the building itself has a lot of issues. A couple months ago it was mostly shut down due to maintenance issues and everything had to be run out of the command bus which took up half the parking lot. Also, it’s simple for any dirtbag walking by to vandalize any and all vehicles parked in the parking lot as there is a hill right behind the precinct. Not all that long ago someone tossed a Draino bomb over the fence and damaged the prisoner wagon and I don’t think they ever found out who it was. Incidents like that won’t be possible with the new precinct.
There are certainly plenty of areas where money can be saved. Like uniforms…the current uniforms are ridiculously expensive…TDU uniforms cost almost 50% less and are more durable, but they’re deemed “too intimidating” and only a couple of specialty units can wear them on a daily basis. Patrol can only wear them for special details or when the weather is particularly bad (like the snow storms this past winter, but even then the call has to be made by the captain and it’s usually a day late by the time word gets around to the street guys.)
Consolidating some of the specialty units would also save money. I don’t know of anyone who can really explain why there needs to be both VSCU and GSU as they seem to do essentially the same job.
I don’t know how much OT money exactly has been saved by having a court liaison officer, but the savings have been significant and has allowed most shifts to run targeted OT details to address specific problems (shift augmentation on the weekends, DUI patrols, robbery details, interdiction details, etc.) Some shifts have been better about doing that that than others, but it comes down to how the individual lieutenants manage their shifts’ budgets and I don’t know how much of that comes from higher level command staff.
They are also looking at some changes to patrol shift scheduling that supposedly will save several $100k/year in OT, though I have my doubts about that. The proposal I’ve seen would require several deputies to be added to certain shifts to be feasible, has way too many people working on relatively slow slow days in the middle of the week, and puts some shifts at minimum on the weekends (even before anyone takes vacation time, is out because of an illness/injury, etc.) I’m certainly no expert, but that seems like a poor use of manpower to me. If that schedule ends up being implemented then I’m glad I don’t work in patrol.
Henry,
Thanks for adding to this discussion.
Yes, more correctional beds would help and a better facility for the officers is needed. We outgrew the SP the day we moved into it. It was not intended to be a HQ type of facility but we did have a foothold in the community. We were supposed to introduce foot patrols to that area when we move in but that never materialized. Adding all of those costs greatly impacts the taxpayers. The Sheriff refuses to consider alternatives. The methodology of policing that we have practiced for the past several decades is not working. The time for a comprehensive study of our present Criminal Justice System is needed. The U.S. leads the world in the numbers of incarcerations and the budgets to manage the inmate populations are staggering. The Sheriff has no clue about the alternatives out there because he has never gone back to school to educate himself. After all, his “degree” in “Sociology” (’72) has fully prepared him to tackle the crime problems here. He already knows everything and you can’t convince him otherwise. His lack of police experience has compounded the problem. He just wants to “please” everyone. He has never learned to say no to the whiners of the office.
He has no clue what true community policing is. Getting into the community to learn about and address issues that affect the quality of life should be a priority. He pays too much attention to what those attention-seeking and complaining individuals generate. Instead he needs to focus on the real problems that are affecting our communities. Developing a system of true responsiveness by aligning all the available resources in the County would be a start.
The Sheriff just goes about his business as usual spending without considering the impact to the citizens of the County. In these difficult times he needs to demonstrate better decision-making but we know he has already failed that test.
One day his self-made fantasy world will come crashing down. His insecurity translates into distrust of his officers. As much as he may convey to the public that he is a caring and concerned Sheriff we all know that he could care less about the common folk in Edgewood. After all he never worked down there as he was too scared to face the dangers of the night. He chose to live in a neighborhood that has never experienced the hardships that are evident every day in other less fortunate neighborhoods. There are good people in those communities and the Sheriff never gave them the time of day until he wanted their votes. As the chief law enforcement officer of the County he has repeatedly failed to demonstrate any effective leadership. So he just spends to impress everyone.
I wonder how much money can be saved by the Police cars only being used for Official use? I don’t think official use is taking your wife to Walmart shopping on the weekend. I have seen this many times and wonder why Taxpayers put up with it.
CG,
The take-home program has benefits as well as detractions. The opportunity cost is that the officers are available for emergency calls. When they are on the road there is more police “visibility”. It is difficult to measure effectiveness. I learned early on that having the family in the car is a liability. Not to mention their safety is potentially at risk.
It does not “look good” to see the shopping activity, but if they can make a difference in an emergency than the opportunity pays off. We do need to consider the fiscal impact in tough times. Other jurisdictions have curtailed their programs and their communities appear to be surviving. The Sheriff would not touch that program as it would only take a single officer to “complain” and he would do the backstroke just as he has done in every other instance. His philosophy is “The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many”.
The biggest problem I see with take-home police cars is not being able to tell if the car that is speeding with no lights or siren at a significantly higher rate than the rest of the traffic is an on-duty cop not responding to a call or an off-duty cop.
Yeah, I’ve seen the ‘data’ but I’m still not convinced at all that take-home cars do not substantially increase expenses. Does anyone know if this is considered a taxable benefit?
No accountability for the Sheriff?
I did not see anything about the Sheriff’s Office. If that operation and current business as usual spending were to be thoroughly examined the taxpayers would be outraged. I know I am. Most citizens are told “We can’t sacrifice public safety”, and while we should not, we should still hold the Sheriff accountable for his expenditures. His money is derived from the County.
Here are just a few examples of the current Sheriff’s spending habits:
He hires more deputies as statistics show violent crime is down not only in Harford County, but nationwide. Instead of using the existing manpower more efficiently he just keeps adding personnel to throw at problems that manpower alone cannot solve. Those newly hired deputies require massive amounts of resources to put on the road. Training, benefits, equipment, and salary cost taxpayers and enormous amount of money. The portable radio’s alone cost about $4,000 each.
He purchases gas guzzling vehicles when other more efficient vehicles are available. Against the advice of his commanders the Sheriff continues to purchase specialty vehicles for his favorite Union supporters. Why are SUV’s required to transport non-violent arrestee’s?
The Sheriff’s office is building a new detention center facility, and needs to hire about 80 new correctional officers. That $25 million expense alone would shock a normal person. While it can be debated from many points of view, the sad fact is, crime is down. Instead of trying to solve the issues that cause people to be arrested we just keep building more jail cells. (If the Sheriff was in charge of our medical profession he would continue to build more cemeteries to collect the dead people instead of trying to find cures for the illnesses causing them to die)
The Sheriff is planning a new Southern Precinct facility requiring another 12 million or so of taxpayers’ money. In these budget strapped times is this the best use of that money?
The Sheriff is paying deputies’ overtime to go to court for cases that they are not needed. He does not want to upset a few of the veteran Union deputies who have been blatantly gathering this overtime for years. Even though they know in advance that they are not needed they go to court, they sit in the back row and collect about $50.00 an hour for doing nothing. That same Overtime money could be better spent on saturation patrols in the high-crime areas of the county. But that would require those same veteran deputies to do some work.
Despite the Sheriff holding his commanders accountable for their overtime expenses he has authorized overtime to an administrative civilian who cannot manage her workload. (She was a close family friend that he hired and who had no workplace expertise. She had no skills whatsoever but he put her on the payroll (without running a background check). She is more clueless than he is.
The Sheriff volunteers his resources to private organizations that cost taxpayers. He volunteers to pay for processes for these organizations that the everyday citizen’s would have to pay. Why does he do this? Several reasons: 1-He buys votes. 2-Because he is an unethical person and he is the King of his kingdom. He knows there is no accountability. He can spin the expenses and no one knows any better. The Sheriff just spends and spends without prioritizing. Every time he does the taxpayer’s take another hit.
These are but a few examples. I am a taxpayer in Harford County and I am outraged. We need a Sheriff who can make sound business decisions and who won’t take advantage of citizen’s in the name of public safety.
How come we (the tax-paying citizens) never read about these things in the Aegis or the Sun? Just like the letter written by Sheriff Golding in rebuttal to the Aegis article about how wonderful Sheriff Bane is……they are keeping it from being published “because they were unable to verify the allegations”. A letter to the Editor from a former Sheriff is not verification? It was not a letter indicating he had an axe to grind. It was a letter with the facts! Yeah, the Editors at the Aegis drank too much Kool-Aid, too….and Sheriff Bane keeps feeding them more, with a heavy dose of bull_ _ _ _ mixed in with it!
How come we (the tax-paying citizens) never read about these things in the Aegis or the Sun? Just like the letter written by Sheriff Golding in rebuttal to the Aegis article about how wonderful Sheriff Bane is……they are keeping it from being published “because they were unable to verify the allegations”, according to Editor Jim Kennedy. A letter to the Editor from a former Sheriff is not verification? It was not a letter indicating he had an axe to grind. It was a letter stating the facts! Yeah, the Editors at the Aegis drank too much Kool-Aid, too….and Sheriff Bane keeps feeding them more, with a heavy dose of bull_ _ _ _ mixed in with it! He’s sure got them, and the taxpayers, fooled!
Retired Cop & Wise Old Guy: Thank you for pointing out what so few know. Readers, take what Retired Cop has said about the foolish spending and multiply it at least tenfold and you will get the idea of the waste and mismanagement. Cop, I praise you for your post as I have wanted to write something similar for some time now, but quite frankly, I didn’t know where to start. Specialized units, mismanaging overtime, unethical hiring practices, favortism, having high ranking employees working on the weekends to “get rid of the excess money in the budget” and having the audacity to even think about building two new facilities when other county agencies had to furlough their employees is just spitting in the taxpayers faces. I can’t wait for a candidates forum and I just hope someone has the balls to question Bane about all this.
Stefano – Do you have any insight on why David Craig has not endorsed the broad group of republican candidates as opposed to liberal Jesse Bane? Is it because David Craig supports Jesse Bane’s liberal policing and spending policies?
Stefano Dimera: I agree that there MUST be a Sheriff candidate “debate” and NOT a “politically correct” question and answer session! It is my understanding that the North Harford Republican Club was going to sponsor a Sheriff’s forum, but it did not come to fruition. Maybe a group, such as the Lions Club or a strong citizen’s organization should sponsor a debate and all of the Sheriff candidates should participate. There’s a new 800+/- seat auditorium at the new Bel Air High School and a large auditorium at the Harford Technical High School. Some group, not a political party, should sponsor this and advertise it as open to the public. The debate should be covered, and I stress this…..”accurately”, by the local news media and printed in the local news media….again, I stress “accurately”!
there was twice planned a sheriffs forum 1 at bel air and then at the armory, both were shut down by “higher ups” every location they tried they were told they couldn’t do it…