General Fund

Three Baltimore mayoral candidates told the city's Muslim community yesterday that residents are experiencing increased violence and failing schools because of a lack of leadership at City Hall. At a candidates' forum organized by the Baltimore Muslim Council, school administrator Andrey Bundley, Del. Jill P. Carter and City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. also fielded questions about police recruitment, education and dealing with neighborhood nuisances. Mayor Sheila Dixon, who many believe is the leading contender in the Sept.

An advisory commission is recommending that the state's portion of the property tax remain at 11.2 cents per $100 of assessed value, despite warnings from Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp that without a tax increase, Maryland's projected budget deficit will grow worse. The Commission on State Debt, made up of Kopp, Comptroller Peter Franchot, three members of the O'Malley administration and a member of the public, is required annually to recommend a rate for the state property tax. The state tax is dedicated to paying the interest and principal on the bonds Maryland issues to build schools, roads, prisons and other major projects.

The Maryland budget picture got even better yesterday as legislative analysts predicted the state will end this fiscal year with a surplus of more than $600 million.The projected surplus is in addition to the $320 million surplus the state accumulated in the last fiscal year, according to the analysis.The new figures, which were delivered to a committee of legislators and business leaders who set state spending limits, startled lawmakers who had grown seemingly accustomed to continually improving revenue statistics the past two years.

A state commission has found that, unless Maryland soon invests billions more dollars in its road, rail and bus systems, they'll be all but obsolete in 20 years.The state's almost $1 billion budget surplus might provide some money immediately, according to a report by the governor's Commission on Transportation Investment to be released Monday. But a more reliable, long-term source of funds -- such as increasing the state's gasoline tax, sales tax or both -- must be found by 2003, the report says.

Members of a new gubernatorial commission say meeting Maryland's daunting transportation needs may require boosting the state's gas tax, sales tax and motor vehicle fees -- and even tapping into the general fund, which for years has been off-limits for transportation projects.The 30-member state Commission on Transportation Investment, which holds its first meeting in two weeks, will evaluate long-range transportation needs and recommend funding options in a report to Gov. Parris N. Glendening at the end of the year.

A study proposing water and sewer rate increases of as much as 67 percent over the next several years was presented to the Annapolis city council last night, drawing sharp questions from some aldermen, who wondered whether there were alternatives.Robert D. Ambrose, an engineering consultant and project manager for Black and Veatch Corp., presented the study, which says Annapolis needs to raise rates to pay for repairing the water and sewer systems without dipping into reserve funds or borrowing.

The Maryland budget picture got even better yesterday as legislative analysts predicted the state will end this fiscal year with a surplus of more than $600 million.The projected surplus is in addition to the $320 million surplus the state accumulated in the last fiscal year, according to the analysis.The new figures, which were delivered to a committee of legislators and business leaders who set state spending limits, startled lawmakers who had grown seemingly accustomed to continually improving revenue statistics the past two years.

In one year, Baltimore has gone from a financially strapped city that closed recreation centers and threatened to raise taxes to having $60 million in extra cash in the city budget.Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke wants to spend those millions -- the result of a strong economy -- on pay raises, additional police officers and capital improvement projects.But as the City Council begins to scrutinize the mayor's $1.8 billion spending plan this week, some members are saying the city is so flush that it's time for a property tax cut."

A combination of ambitious spending plans and a major cut in the Maryland income tax adds up to a projected $539 million deficit in the state budget in five years, the legislature's fiscal analysts said yesterday.That estimated deficit for 2003 is $200 million larger than the one forecast last month by aides to Gov. Parris N. Glendening, largely due to less optimistic assumptions by the General Assembly's analysts.The downbeat projection, which comes as legislators weigh how to spend the state's healthy $283 million surplus and debate election-year tax cuts, is a reminder that the state's good fiscal times won't last.

A rebounding Maryland Lottery plans to increase payouts this year and is "very likely" to begin offering "millionaire" winners of its flagship Lotto game the option of collecting their prizes in a lump sum, its director said yesterday.Buddy Roogow, who became director in October when lottery sales were in a deep slump, told the Senate Finance Committee in Annapolis that revenues for the fiscal year would comfortably exceed the state's estimate of $334 million.He also outlined a series of ambitious plans to increase the appeal of the state-run numbers games, including a possible move away from the system under which winners of big Lotto prizes collect their winnings in the form of 20-year annuities.

For those with cherished memories of the golden days of air travel, there's a new indignity to stomach - no more airport-wide paging at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. At the end of the month, the state is eliminating the eight-person communications center that steered travelers to the appropriate "courtesy phone" and connected passengers with their parties. There are worse services to lose, of course. In this age of cell phones and text messages, it's slightly shocking this didn't fall under the budget ax earlier.

Last year, as the Howard County Council completed work on the fiscal 2009 budget, Councilwoman Courtney Watson gave budget director Raymond S. Wacks a four-leaf clover to ward off recessionary revenue declines. It didn't work, she pointed out Wednesday after voting on this year's crop of 25 budget bills and resolutions. The council approved a $1.4 billion operating budget and $392 million in capital expenses for the year that starts July 1. The operating budget cuts general fund spending 4 percent, furloughs about 1,800 county workers, denies them a cost-of-living pay raise and lays off nine people.

Senators on a budget subcommittee proposed on Tuesday reducing money for stem cell research - one of several differences from what their counterparts in the House of Delegates recommended. The House's full budget committee wants to keep $18.4 million in funding for the research, while the Senate's budget subcommittee on education suggested cutting stem cell grants to $5 million. But senators asked to leave more in the coffers of the University System of Maryland than delegates recommended last week.

Safeguard the trust before a gas tax hike Jay Hancock's recommendation that we increase the state's gas tax by a dime underscores the importance of creating a constitutional firewall to protect the transportation trust fund ("Maryland could lead the way by raising its gas tax," Feb 4). There is no denying the need Mr. Hancock cites to build a "21st-century transportation system." But more than $1 billion has been transferred from the fund over the past two decades into the general fund to help balance the state budget.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has proposed tighter restrictions on a city reserve fund that some City Council members want to tap to ease the effects of budget cuts. Under the new policy - up for a Board of Estimates vote today - the so-called "rainy day" fund must be maintained at an amount equal to at least 8 percent of the combined value of the city's general fund and motor vehicle fund. That would be roughly $30 million more than its current value of $92.3 million. The proposed rules would restrict spending from the reserve account until other leftover money is spent, and the funds would have to be used only to "avoid a budget deficit in any given year."

A sluggish economy and housing market continued to undercut nearly every source of tax revenue for the state over the past year, with collections falling $73.5 million short of expectations, setting the stage for tighter budgets in the coming years. The declines demonstrate how inextricably tied state government is to the overall economy. A dent in consumer spending, weakened by the economic malaise and household budgets strapped by higher gas and food prices, led to a sales-tax shortfall.

Wanda S. Durden, a former official at a government contracting firm who previously served as an interim director of Washington's parks department, was nominated as the director of Baltimore's Department of Recreation and Parks yesterday. Durden, 40, would replace Connie A. Brown, who retired from the position in February. Durden most recently worked as the senior director of operations for Motir Services Inc. in Washington. "The Department of Recreation and Parks is a vital, vital tool to help us with some of the systematic issues that impact us," Mayor Sheila Dixon said.

The $1.4 billion budget plan unveiled yesterday by County Executive Ken Ulman curbs spending compared with last year, but residents face increased parking fines and rises in water, trash and other fees to help pay for the proposal. The 5 percent increase in spending compared with last year is "the lowest in the last decade" with the exception of 2003, Ulman said before presenting his proposal -- the second of his administration -- to the County Council yesterday. That figure refers to general fund revenues that come from taxpayers.

As lawmakers worked yesterday to trim state spending to balance Maryland's budget for next year, Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed $18.2 million in new expenditures, much of it earmarked for health care, programs for children with disabilities and a fund to help the poor pay their electricity bills. O'Malley called for additional general fund spending totaling $28.7 million over the next two years but also proposed significant expenditures relying on special earmarked funds, some of which are nearing approval by the General Assembly.

Relying on a surge in property and income tax revenue to offset losses from a sliding economy, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon proposed a modest budget yesterday with a small property tax cut and no increase in other levies. Predicting tougher times ahead, Dixon proposed a $2.92 billion budget, about 10.4 percent more than last year. The plan includes nominal increases for police, fire and schools but also cuts to parks and health programs and the elimination of 95 vacant positions. The spending plan, which must be approved by the City Council, continues for the fourth straight year the city's practice of reducing its property tax rate by 2 cents annually, though many residents will still pay more because of rising assessments.