Local Governments

There is a certain reliable pattern to each Maryland General Assembly session: The House and Senate will be at odds, 90 days worth of legislating will be condensed to about three weeks, and most bills of substance will be deferred or delayed. It's also predictable that at some point, local governments will groan and moan about how state government is usurping their authority. Well, with less than a week left in the session, it's that time of year again. Local leaders from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore see Annapolis trampling local decision-making rights from land planning to government ethics, and they don't much like it. At some level, it's understandable that county executives, commissioners and council members want to make their choices unencumbered by state and federal mandates.

This is the season when local governments finalize their budgets for the next fiscal year, and the grousing about their penurious circumstances is in full swing. Some are even complaining that the state's revised budget and tax plan - signed into law by Gov.Martin O'Malleythis week - has put a serious crimp in their finances. In particular, they blame the state's decision to shift a portion of the cost of teacher retirement contributions to Baltimore City and the counties as ruinous to their own budgets.

In the sixth and perhaps most painful round of budget cuts this year, Gov. William Donald Schaefer today unveiled a $225 million cost-reduction plan that includes more cuts to state services, sharply reduced aid to local governments and, for the first time at the statewide level, employee furloughs.Although officials knew more cuts were inevitable, the proposed reductions in state aid to cities and counties shocked local officials, who scrambled to renew their pleas for higher state taxes.

State officials are in town today discussing how they might go about launching an open data initiative to help improve access to public information. Several members of the tech community are there, and have been tweeting throughout the morning. We'll embed some of the comments below. Such a project might be similar to the work that Baltimore City and other local governments have done. On the city's Open Baltimore site , you can find all sorts of tax, traffic citation and other information that has helped lead to features in The Sun. -- For instance, check out our speed camera finder for the city.

When it comes to enacting laws, the Maryland General Assembly is adept at passing along the cost of implementating them. More than 750 so-called unfunded mandates have been placed in state law books, imposing a huge but hidden burden on county and local governments.Local leaders are fed up. They are demanding that state officials pause long enough before passing new laws to consider whether they will mean added costs to city and county governments. And for once, state officials seem to be listening.

CHICAGO -- Mad as hell and unwilling to take it any more, leaders of the nation's counties and cities gathered in Chicago November 13 and 14 for the first-ever national convocation of America's local governments.All year long, the officials complained, they've stood by helplessly as Congress, with scarcely a word of consultation, prepared deep cuts in programs vital to them and their communities.And it's not just in Washington, or in White House-Capitol Hill budget negotiations, that local government leaders feel denied a voice or a seat at the table.

A bill that would have barred counties and municipalities from regulating pesticide use died in the House of Delegates yesterday by a 57-72 vote.The defeat was a blow for farmers and the lawn-care industry, who are trying to negate a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year upholding the right of local governments to enact pesticide use rules more stringent than federal law.The measure, which would have left pesticide regulation in the hand of the state Agriculture...

WASHINGTON -- Recession-weary local governments, burdened with low tax revenues and decreasing federal aid, have become like tired car batteries, officials told Congress yesterday."

The Westminster Common Council voted last night to extend Prestige Cable's franchise agreement for six months. The current deal expires Saturday. The cable company and local governments -- the county and seven of its eight incorporated towns -- haven't reached an agreement on renewal of the 15-year contract and need the extension to continue service during negotiations. Although Prestige is too small for governmental bodies to regulate its prices, several council members complained of high rates before approving the extension.

The O'Malley administration plans to use Maryland's new Chesapeake Bay cleanup fund to target runoff pollution into some of the state's smaller rivers, including the Corsica and the Wye. The Department of Natural Resources plans today to ask local governments and nonprofit organizations to start applying for money from the $25 million fund established by the General Assembly. Data analysis The state's BayStat program, using computerized analysis of scientific data, will determine which pollution-control proposals get the money, said John R. Griffin, natural resources secretary.

In a move aimed at helping Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, the General Assembly adopted a bill late last night mandating that Maryland's largest localities, including Baltimore city and its suburbs, levy fees on their residents to pay for controlling polluted runoff from streets, parking lots and buildings. HB987 cleared the Senate after a protracted debate and repeated efforts by opponents to limit the requirement.  All failed, though senators did exempt state, county and municipal governments and volunteer fire companies from having to pay any fees.

Editor:   The editorial published March 22, in The Aegis and The Record , "A big cleanup," pointed out that the federal money recently made available to places like Havre de Grace isn't nearly enough to clean up the Bay. We agree. But the piece might have given the impression that new grants of up to $750,000 to local governments are the only outside money available to localities to help them undertake cleanup responsibilities. The editorial rightly noted that reducing agricultural pollution is especially efficient, but again implied these efforts weren't receiving much federal and state support.

There is a certain reliable pattern to each Maryland General Assembly session: The House and Senate will be at odds, 90 days worth of legislating will be condensed to about three weeks, and most bills of substance will be deferred or delayed. It's also predictable that at some point, local governments will groan and moan about how state government is usurping their authority. Well, with less than a week left in the session, it's that time of year again. Local leaders from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore see Annapolis trampling local decision-making rights from land planning to government ethics, and they don't much like it. At some level, it's understandable that county executives, commissioners and council members want to make their choices unencumbered by state and federal mandates.

It's a terrible time for the Anne Arundel County Council to be engaged in a protracted standoff over the replacement of one of its members. The body's prestige was harmed enough by the circumstances that led to the removal of Democrat Daryl Jones, who is currently serving time in federal prison for failing to file income tax returns for several years. It has not been helped by the use of a racial slur by one of the council members during deliberation over Mr. Jones' replacement, and it has further been damaged by the seeming indifference of some members of the Republican majority about whether residents of the 1st District have any representation.

Maryland's constitution mandates that every student have access to an adequate (indeed, "thorough" is how it's described) education. Court cases have backed this up, and the state legislature's response was the Bridge to Excellence in Education Act, more commonly known as the "Thornton" funding that ensured even the state's poorest jurisdictions had enough money for K-12 schools. Crucial to this transfer of tax dollars from the state to local school systems was the assurance that Baltimore and the 23 counties would maintain their share of that financial responsibility, too. Otherwise, the $1.3 billion in Thornton assistance would not provide a boost to schools but merely give local governments an opportunity to slack.

City finances have long been under pressure, but the Great Recession and steady attacks on federal and state spending have compounded local financial difficulties. The National League of Cities' annual research brief, City Fiscal Conditions, documents rapid deterioration. Reported revenue declines of 2.5 percent in 2009 and 3.2 percent in 2010 were unprecedented in severity in the 25-year history of the survey. In 2010, 79 percent of cities reported cutting personnel, 44 percent cut services, 25 percent cut public safety spending, and 17 percent cut current employees' health benefits.

WASHINGTON -- In the town of Mount Airy, population 4,000, Mayor Gerald Johnson is worried. He said the town may not be able to afford the roughly $120,000 needed in 1993 to comply with federal regulations.The figure amounts to about 12 percent of Mount Airy's budget.Under unfunded "federal mandates," state and local governments like Mount Airy's must meet regulations for air quality and drinking water improvements, among others. The catch is, the local governments receive no money from Congress to make the changes.

MARYLAND'S LATEST round of real property assessments represents more bad news for city and county budget officials. The average increase of 1.3 percent in property values statewide means that local governments will have to look to other revenue sources to finance their budgets, or make further cuts.Stagnating property values are the flip side of nearly a half-decade's worth of disinflation. Leading up to the 1990s, local budget officials could count on property values rising at rates that were close to double digits.

If Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to shift some teacher pension costs to the counties is approved by the legislature, no jurisdiction will take so large a hit in the first year as Baltimore County. Poorer jurisdictions are due to get an influx of direct state aid under the governor's proposal, and richer ones benefit more from Mr. O'Malley's idea to limit income tax exemptions and deductions for the top fifth of earners. The result is that Baltimore County would see a hit of nearly $3 million in the fiscal year that begins in July, with the effects magnified in the years after that.

Baltimore and Harford counties are conducting their annual surveys of the homeless population this week, gathering information about how many people lack a permanent place to stay and why. The one-day census is also intended to help service agencies learn where there are gaps in assistance programs. The federal government requires a count, known as a point-in-time census, during the last 10 days of January from all local governments at least every other year. Most conduct the survey annually.