Capital Budget

Critics of proposals to build a park and community center in North Laurel and playing fields at Blandair Park in Columbia continue to try to derail both projects as the County Council prepares to discuss County Executive Ken Ulman's capital budget this week. Ulman's budget contains $1.9 million for the $19.5 million North Laurel Park Community Center and $1.4 million for planning Blandair's development. In addition, the General Assembly approved $375,000 for Blandair and $200,000 for North Laurel Park.

Our Anne Arundel County fiscal 2008 budget, a collaborative effort between my administration and a unanimous County Council, makes a historic commitment to the education of our children. Half of the tax money that will be spent will go toward our schools, a level unmatched in the history of charter government. We have focused our resources on the classroom, funded the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, expanded the International Baccalaureate program and promoted a safer, more secure learning environment with additional security provided by our Police Department.

Howard County school officials are intensifying their campaign for a new funding source for school construction projects as demand increases while state and county contributions decrease. School board members and Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin made a pitch for help to the county's General Assembly delegation and County Council members at a meeting Friday at board headquarters, but the legislators indicated that they had little enthusiasm for raising revenue. The largest and most contested issue in next year's capital budget is how much to spend on Mount Hebron High School.

Howard County Executive James N. Robey unveiled a $98 million capital budget proposal yesterdaythat is 24 percent smaller than this fiscal year's, but fueled by enough surplus cash to plan for a new Fulton high school, a disputed in-line skating pavilion and a new Ellicott Mills Middle School.Robey said he resisted seeking more in order to begin reducing the county's $400 million debt -- a burden that would cost $45 million in operating budget cash just in interest payments next fiscal year.

The Columbia Association unveiled last night a $48.9 million proposed budget for the coming fiscal year that includes $100,000 for Howard County schools and $340,000 for a possible increase in staff salaries.Overall, the combined operating and capital expenditures proposed for the fiscal year that begins May 1 represent a negligible increase over current spending.According to the budget, released to the 10-member Columbia Council last night, the association "assessment" -- the planned community's equivalent of a property tax -- would remain unchanged.

With a record $1.05 billion to spread around for capital projects, Gov. Parris N. Glendening is proposing a $24 million expansion of the Senate office building -- part of a makeover long sought by some legislators.More than $700 million of Glendening's capital budget, released yesterday, is earmarked for public school construction, higher education and the environment, traditionally three areas that receive the lion's share of the state's annual investment in projects.Baltimore would receive about $185 million, the most of any jurisdiction, including $15.5 million for an African-American museum and $3 million for the zoo.Glendening's budget earmarks $10 million toward the University of Maryland Medical System's $218 million renovation project in downtown Baltimore, and he pledged yesterday to add $30 million overall to the state's $70 million commitment.

In an early holiday gift, Gov. Parris N. Glendening handed out hundreds of millions of dollars yesterday for new buildings at Maryland's colleges and universities.Glendening announced the higher education portion of the capital budget at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to an eager audience that included most of the presidents of the state's public schools.Glendening said a five-year $1.23 billion construction budget will be funded with the state budget surplus projected at $925 million, as well as with income from a tax on tobacco products passed last year and money from the settlement with tobacco companies.

More than 400 people flocked to the Westminster High School auditorium last night to listen to the Carroll County commissioners promote their proposed spending plan for fiscal 2000, which begins July 1.The commissioners are looking to raise capital spending by $25 million to pay for school construction projects, including the new Century High in South Carroll and a new classroom building at Carroll Community College.The budget proposal, presented to the public during a three-hour hearing, drew comments from more than 70 residents, most of whom expressed concerns about school funding.

Despite its wealth, Howard County should curb its debt by trying to borrow no more each year than the $25 million raised through a bond sale yesterday, say several members of a spending affordability committee that met hours before the sale.Yesterday's sale attracted an interest rate of 4.6065 percent from 1st Union Capitol Markets Corp., the lowest of eight bidders."That's the best interest rate we've received in a long time," county Budget Director Raymond S. Wacks said. "We're happy."The low rate is a tribute to the county's top AAA rating by New York bond houses.

Carroll County residents will not face increases in property or piggyback taxes next fiscal year, even though the county's proposed operating budget is $10 million or about 5.5 percent higher than this year.In its fiscal 2000 budget released Friday, the county commissioners proposed an operating budget of $192.7 million and a capital budget of $80.8 million, an increase of more than $33 million over the current year.This year's operating budget is nearly $182.7 million. The property tax rate will remain at $2.62 per $100 of assessed value.

Schools Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin unveiled a $99.9 million capital budget last week that would include money for a variety of projects, such as a new school in northeastern Howard County that is slated to open in 2013. The amount of the 2011-2012 budget will likely increase in the coming months, according to Cousin. The school board must approve a version of the capital budget by Oct. 6, when a draft must be submitted to the State Construction Program staff. The school system will approve a final budget by June.

Anne Arundel approves $2.4 billion budget The Anne Arundel County Council unanimously approved Thursday a combined $2.4 billion operating and capital budget for the next fiscal year, which includes a property tax rate cut and no employee layoffs or furloughs but leaves the public schools scrambling to make up a $45 million deficit. County Executive John R. Leopold had proposed a $1.17 billion operating budget, with across-the-board, 9 percent departmental cuts. But the council passed an operating budget that is $12.3 million more than Leopold proposed, largely subsidizing it with cuts to the capital budget and the use of bonds instead of on-hand cash for construction projects.

The Howard County Board of Education is hoping that the County Council will approve an adjusted 2010 fiscal operating budget that trims $7.3 million from its original $664 million budget. In addition, the board wants council members to add $4.7 million to the $68.8 million capital budget approved by County Executive Ken Ulman. The board originally sought to add $10.7 million of the $26.2 million that Ulman had cut. Board members unanimously approved both budgets during Tuesday's board meeting.

State budget cuts approved by the Maryland General Assembly will cost Howard County about $14.5 million in the fiscal year starting July 1, with $5.9 million of that coming directly from education aid, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said. "We're still finalizing those numbers, but it will make our job a lot more difficult," he said. "We could have managed through our own reductions in revenue" if not for the extra cuts in state aid. The executive said he believes those added cuts will probably mean furloughs for county workers, though no final decision has been reached.

The public works director in Annapolis ought to investigate what substance has infiltrated the city's drinking water supply that caused so many to so easily lose their sense of propriety. Little else could explain how lawmakers in the state capital rarely comprehend how their behavior might seem if not downright unethical then at least ethically challenged. As our colleagues at The Washington Post recently reported, the House of Delegates' Ways and Means Committee held an "invitation only" St. Patrick's Day party at its offices organized and paid for by Ocean Downs Racetrack and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

Anne Arundel County schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell and County Executive John R. Leopold said they will be working closely in the coming months to bridge their budgetary priorities, after the school board last week approved Maxwell's recommended $977.4 million operating budget and $213.8 million capital budget. The budgets will be forwarded to Leopold, who has said it will be "nearly impossible" to fund them in full, citing a sharp decline in revenue and the worsening global financial crisis.

When Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. suggested recently that Maryland ought to spend $325 million on public school construction next year, quite a few people in Annapolis scoffed. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller opined that the state had been "overly generous" with such funding in the past, and aides to Gov. Martin O'Malley expressed doubts that Mr. Smith's recommended number could possibly be met. How quickly they forget. While it's true that the last three years have brought a record investment in schools, not only to build new ones but to repair or replace aging structures, far more is needed.

Stretches of W. Lombard and the JFX to be closed 2 The northbound lanes of Interstate 83 will be closed to motor vehicles from Fayette Street to Cold Spring Lane from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow for the Jones Falls Rally for the River event, the Baltimore Department of Transportation says. Officials are also planning to close West Lombard Street between Greene and Paca streets from 2 a.m. until 4 p.m. today to accommodate a crane operation. Officials recommend that drivers use alternate routes to avoid delays today and tomorrow.

Like most county public schools that were built in the 1960s and are in need of a face-lift, Northeast High School in Pasadena needs a new gymnasium, more classrooms and a larger cafeteria. But whether county officials can fully fund the renovation project, which would cost $32 million in the next fiscal year, is uncertain. Portions of the project could be put on the back burner as the school system struggles to put a dent in maintenance and construction backlogs that have grown over the years because of lack of funding.

Arundel officials discuss capital schools budget The Anne Arundel County Board of Education will meet for a workshop on the fiscal 2010 capital improvement budget and capital budget at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the administration building, 2644 Riva Road, Annapolis. A meeting and public hearing on the fiscal 2010 capital improvement budget and capital budget will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 17. The meeting is open to the public, and comment is encouraged. Information: 410-222-5000. Organization offers kids sampler workshops The Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts will offer a series of one-day sampler workshops for children this fall at 801 Chase St., Annapolis.