IF YOU WERE among the few cheering for the "extra" $406,000 in school aid that Carroll County got from the munificent state government this year, you might look where it came from.
The state "took back" most of that amount in the $340,000 or so that Carroll will continue to pay Annapolis each year for collecting home-sale deed recordation fees, fees that this county could well collect on its own.
What actually happened this spring is that the General Assembly voted to allow the counties (at least those that so wished) to collect their own recordation fees, instead of paying a mandatory 5 percent tribute to the state treasury for the marginal service.
It was a reasonable expectation of Maryland counties to recover some local money that has been siphoned off over the years by a ravenous state government. The legislation passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate with virtually no opposition.
Then the bill went to the governor for his signature, which he summarily denied with a veto that further underlines his disdain for local government authority and decision-making and fair share of state funds.
No, declared Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the erstwhile political science professor. This $4 million a year in collection-service fees was sorely needed to balance the $15 billion state budget.
Well, you might ask, what's the connection between the gubernatorial veto of some real estate fee legislation and the education aid budget crafted by the governor?
Let Mr. Glendening explain: "While this bill will increase county revenues, it will force the state to reduce funding in priority areas, such as school construction, to pay the cost of recording deeds. . .I cannot support further mandates in local aid."
But wouldn't that loss be much the same for all counties? Not for the smaller counties that preferred the state continue to collect the recordation fees.
And decidedly not for Prince George's County, where the same Mr. Glendening ruled for 12 years prior to moving to Annapolis. The governor's home turf is, not by coincidence, the only county entitled to collect its own recordation fees without paying off the state.
And it was Prince George's County that collected the largest chunk of additional state school money under Mr. Glendening's formula. That Washington suburb was awarded more than $8 million, or 20 times what Carroll got.
Baltimore was again the big winner in Mr. Glendening's allocation formula. The reason that there was any extra school aid for any county was the state's $254 million, five-year commitment to the city.
That's the city whose school population is not expanding. That's the city that already spends more per pupil on education than Carroll, with less to show for it academically.
Of course, Carroll County's greatest need is for new school buildings and expansion of old ones, which isn't a city need. So you'd expect the state construction aid would be there, especially after several years of the county fronting the money it expected to regain from the state.
But that, too, didn't meet the county's needs or expectation. The ineffable governor blew through the county this spring with the grand news that Carroll would be getting $6.6 million to renovate and expand Francis Scott Key High School, the county's oldest.
Only the state was going to dribble it out over two or three years, endangering the carefully planned project altogether. Without a seamless continuity of contractor work, the plan was doomed to failure; piecemeal work would increase the cost and not allow classes to continue in the school during construction.
Mr. Glendening did not even understand the lack of applause for his decision. Indeed, there was an intimation that unappreciative Carroll didn't understand the pressing needs of the entire state education system that required parceling out the construction funds to as many projects as possible.
But the Carroll County commissioners did understand the situation: The administration wasn't going to fund local schools according to need, but according to political persuasion. Baltimore City and Prince George's County voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Glendening and were going to be handsomely rewarded.
Just as they earmarked the local piggyback income tax increase two years ago to pay for school building that the state wouldn't, the commissioners have decided to bite the bullet and advance more than $2 million in county revenues to make up for the state's shortfall at Key High and do the job properly. They still fear that the state will renege on, or delay, its future installment payments for the approved project.
While the commissioners may be divided about how best to pay for new schools with local tax dollars, they are more keenly aware than ever of the limitations on state funding for this county, even as the governor boasts of record state spending for education.
And every time that Annapolis announces another gift for Carroll County, they'll be looking to see which pocket has been picked to pay for it.
Mike Burns is The Sun's editorial writer in Carroll County.
Pub Date: 6/01/97
