Proposed Budget

The House of Delegates approved a $17.5 billion state budget bill yesterday that would give lawmakers the option of accepting or refusing Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposed tobacco tax increase.A majority of House Republicans joined all but one Democrat in passing the Glendening budget on a 127-12 vote. The bill, which would cut $173 million from the governor's proposed budget, moves to the Senate.Del. Howard P. Rawlings, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, said the budget is balanced whether or not they approve the governor's proposed $1-a-pack cigarette tax increase.

A member of the Howard County Planning Board lashed out last night at the Columbia Council during an otherwise placid hearing on the Columbia Association's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.Joan C. Lancos, a former village board member and Columbia Council representative who was appointed to the Planning Board in 1992, criticized the council for what she called a lack of "direction," "vision" and "business experience."More than 50 residents and officials attended the meeting at Wilde Lake's Slayton House.

Carroll Superintendent William H. Hyde's proposed $172 million budget for the next school year would do little to reduce class size, but it would staff a new school in Westminster, increase clerical workers and give elementary teachers planning time.Hyde's spending plan for the 1999-2000 school year, unveiled at yesterday's school board meeting, is based on the fact that Carroll's student population seems to be leveling. After several years of a student growth rate between 2 percent and 3 percent, county officials are projecting an addition of 325 pupils next year, a 1.3 percent increase.

The county commissioners will hold a public hearing this evening on the proposed $274 million operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2000, which begins July 1.Residents will be invited to comment on the commissioners' budget proposal. The operating budget would increase by 5 percent to $193 million. The capital budget would increase from $47 million to $81 million. The $34 million in capital funding increases would be for public schools and road construction.The proposal doesn't call for tax increases.

Howard County school board members approved yesterday an operating budget for next year that is an 11 percent increase over this year's budget, and would require $9 million more from the county than the superintendent requested.The proposed budget, $302.8 million, seeks across-the-board employee raises, including an extra $7.1 million for instructional salaries. However, schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said that agreements with the various unions were still tentative as of Tuesday.Perhaps foreshadowing a struggle with the County Council over funding, board members stressed that the budget is subject to change in May. That's when the county -- which funds about 75 percent of the budget -- decides how much money it will give the school system.

Several angry Baltimore City Council members accused the police commissioner yesterday of failing to prepare for the expected exodus of 250 officers from an already understaffed police force.Many members of the Budget Appropriations Committee said Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier's plan to use overtime to fill the anticipated gaps is unacceptable."We should have been planning for this a year ago," said Chairman Nicholas C. D'Adamo Jr., who angrily suggested last week Frazier be ousted if answers aren't forthcoming.

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.

Angry and frustrated elementary school teachers pleaded last night with county education officials to give them enough lesson-planning time to do their jobs.Teachers told school officials that unless money for sufficient planning time is restored in next year's operating budget, the quality of pupil instruction will suffer."That time was used by teachers to network with other teachers and plan jointly for the students they teach," said Ralph C. Blevins, president of the Carroll County Teachers Association.

BY APPROVING Superintendent Carol S. Parham's proposed budget for fiscal year 2000 in less than an hour -- and without any changes -- the Anne Arundel Board of Education ushered in a new era of good feelings with the county executive and council.If only it were that easy.The board merely postponed the inevitable conflict until later in the budget cycle.Dr. Parham's proposed budget is $516 million. That's 12 percent more than the 1999 budget of $460 million.The plan must be cut for the county to balance its overall budget, roughly half of which goes to education.

EMOTION often creeps into the debate about education spending in Maryland. That's understandable when considering the future of youngsters and their communities. But the debate has reached new lows this year, with discussions about spending money to fix or build schools being cast as "anti-child" by teachers seeking raises.This week, the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, annoyed that County Executive John G. Gary wants to spend money on school construction rather than pay raises, voiced that absurd notion in ads in The Sunday Capital in Annapolis and The Sun.The ad, headlined "And the Children will Suffer," had a caricature ofMr.

Health care providers who serve Medicaid patients will get paid less, the University System of Maryland will hire fewer faculty members and 40 state workers will lose their jobs as part of $280 million in budget cuts proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley. The Democratic governor has compiled a list of budget cuts to be presented today to the Board of Public Works, a three-member body that can approve midyear budget adjustments when the General Assembly is not in session. But the cutbacks won't end there: O'Malley plans up to $470 million in further budget cuts before Labor Day. The next round of spending reductions will target aid to local governments and state employee compensation, O'Malley said during a news conference.

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. proposed on Tuesday a $2.5 billion budget that avoids increases in property or income taxes and gives cost-of-living raises to teachers and other county employees, though it does include a modest increase in water and sewer rates. Unlike some other Maryland jurisdictions, Baltimore County envisions no furloughs, layoffs or hiring freezes, and will probably add to its work force in education and public safety in the coming year, officials said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley warned yesterday of a fresh round of budget cuts to account for tumbling state revenue forecasts that are far lower than just three months ago, leaving a roughly $515 million shortfall next year. In an interview, the Democratic governor said a tax revenue estimate set for release today is "in essence sending us back to the drawing board" to craft a balanced budget. O'Malley said "it is my hope" to avoid state worker layoffs, and pledged to "do my best to defend" a continued tuition freeze at public universities.

When Carroll County schools Superintendent Charles I. Ecker presented his proposed operating budget for the coming year recently, he anticipated a $568,000 shortfall in state funding. Then he heard Gov. Martin O'Malley's state budget plan a week later and discovered the cut would be about $4 million. "I guess I'm hoping that's all," Ecker said yesterday. As the school board presented Ecker's fiscal 2010 proposal at a hearing last night before an audience of about 50, he acknowledged that the state allowance could decrease further, and that county funding could also shrink.

Poring over the proposed operating budget last night for the next fiscal year, Baltimore County school board members zeroed in on the details: Funds allocated for educational programs. Music instruction. Online learning materials. "There's not a lot of money, and we only have a little tiny bit of discretionary" [funds], board member Meg O'Hare said, explaining her in-depth questions on the $1.32 billion proposed spending plan. The board's work session came nearly a week after the governor presented his proposed budget, which would cut almost $70 million in state funding for local schools.

What a difference a year makes. Schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell, who proposed a $977 million operating budget for the school system last week, said he and County Executive John R. Leopold have been meeting monthly since August. He described those interactions as "collegial." And Leopold called the proposed budget "consistent with my own budget priorities." "I believe those conversations have led us to a place of greater understanding on all sides, and I certainly respect the job Mr. Leopold and the County Council must do in balancing the varied interests across our county," Maxwell said at Wednesday's school board meeting, during which the budget was presented.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold vowed yesterday to work with schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell to fund the school chief's proposed budget - which officials said includes the smallest spending increase in a decade. Though Leopold cautioned that Maxwell's $997 million proposal, which avoids drastic measures such as layoffs or school closings, has "no guarantee" of passing, he said it is "consistent with my own budget priorities." "I appreciate the superintendent's clear-eyed understanding of the harsh fiscal realities we all face," Leopold said.

Proposed Arundel schools budget at $977 million Anne Arundel County School Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell proposed a $977.4 million operating budget last night for the next fiscal year, a nearly 5 percent increase over last year's proposal. Of the $46.1 million in increased requested funding, $3.6 million will support new initiatives: $1.7 million for magnet programs at North County and South River high schools and Bates Middle School, and $1.8 million for a new student information system.

The Annapolis city council has delayed voting on its proposed $81 million operating budget for a second time, amid concerns over the prospects of a now-dead proposed hike in the Anne Arundel County hotel tax. The council's finance committee had originally suggested funding an extra $1 million in initiatives - including the restoration of $433,000 in grant money for nonprofits and $200,000 in air conditioning maintenance to city buildings - with an...

Baltimore City Council leaders said yesterday that they will attempt to restore a property tax rate cut that Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration pulled from the city's proposed budget last month. Though the council has limited power to alter the proposed $2.94 billion spending plan, several members said they will seek to cut millions in spending in the coming weeks so the city can afford to reduce its property tax rate by as much as 2 cents, the latest step in a five-year plan to reduce Baltimore's highest-in-the-state property tax rate.