Revenue Authority

The abilities of some intelligent, civic-minded people are going to waste while about a quarter million tax dollars sit idle. This isn't necessarily the result of some government boondoggle, just one of those things that didn't work out as planned. But that doesn't mean officials can't do anything to correct this situation. The Howard County Revenue Authority has had little to do in the five years since it was formed, initially to study and secure funding for a parking garage in Ellicott City's historic district.

A former head of the Baltimore County Revenue Authority has been hired to lead the agency again. The authority's board of directors on Tuesday chose Kenneth Mills as CEO of the authority, which operates the county's parking garages, golf courses and some recreational facilities. He will replace William "Lynnie" Cook, who resigned in February. Mills, who is director of business development for Southway Builders in Baltimore, also worked for the Revenue Authority from 1985 to 1993.

State lawmakers and some Baltimore County community leaders are pushing to change the way the county Revenue Authority procures contracts and sells land, saying the organization needs to be more accountable to the public as it operates parking lots, golf courses and recreational facilities. Members of county's legislative delegation plan to introduce measures in January to increase oversight of the authority. The lawmakers say they want the authority to follow the same bidding and ethics rules as county agencies.

State lawmakers and some Baltimore County community leaders are pushing to change the way the county Revenue Authority procures contracts and sells land, saying the organization needs to be more accountable to the public as it operates parking lots, golf courses and recreational facilities. Members of county's legislative delegation plan to introduce measures in January to increase oversight of the authority. The lawmakers say they want the authority to follow the same bidding and ethics rules as county agencies.

Some Annapolis residents contend that a plan to give a nonelected panel authority over city development would sacrifice public oversight.But some aldermen argue that such a board would save taxpayer dollars and generate local development.Both sides had their say last night at a city council hearing on whether to allow the city to create a revenue authority, a nonelected body that would privately finance, operate and maintain expensive public projects."Revenue authorities help get projects to completion that otherwise might never be developed or financed," said David Funk, a Baltimore lawyer hired by the council to draft a charter amendment that would allow creation of a revenue authority.

The Annapolis city council will be told tonight that a group of residents failed to get a referendum on a charter amendment allowing the city government to establish a revenue authority.Officials from the city Board of Supervisors of Elections will present their report to the council at 7 p.m. at City Hall.More than 60 residents collected about 2,500 signatures, but could not deliver the 3,700 necessary by the June 17 deadline, city officials and residents said.In May, the council voted 5-3 to approve a charter amendment giving the city the power to create a revenue authority, a non-elected board that finds ways to pay for large-scale projects.

For the first time, both sides of a long-standing battle over whether the city of Annapolis needs an independent revenue authority are in agreement on something.The bill creating the authority is "too vague and ambiguous," say advocates and opponents on the city council. They are going to vote tonight to withdraw the proposal, which has bitterly divided council members and caused an uproar among city residents.The issue will resurface, however, as soon as Paul G. Goetzke, the city attorney, rewrites the bill to clearly define and narrow the authority's scope, size and powers.

A reader named John Dusch sent along an article from the Gazette in Prince George's County on speed cameras, thinking I'd be interested. I was. It seems the Prince George's County Council has approved plans for speed cameras and has designated the county Revenue Authority to determine the 50 school sites where they will be deployed. The Revenue Authority? What are these people thinking? Regular readers of this column are well aware that I have no objections to speed cameras and would cheer if they were installed on every road in the state.

Annapolis dwellers critical of a measure that would allow a nonelected board to pay for large-scale development in the city have failed to bring the issue to a referendum.Critics of the proposed revenue authority collected roughly 2,500 signatures but were more than 1,000 names short when they delivered their petitions to City Hall Friday, city officials and residents said."You have to amass a huge number of people in a short period of time. It's a daunting task," said Jim Vance, one of more than 60 residents who collected signatures in the referendum drive.

The Baltimore County Revenue Authority yesterday purchased for $2.1 million at a public auction the financially troubled Mount Vista Golf Course in Kingsville. The property is to remain a golf course, said George E. Hale, executive director of the authority. The Mount Vista course is an 18-hole "executive" course -- one that can be played relatively quickly because its fairways are shorter than those on full-length courses -- and it is not near any of the other five courses operated by the revenue authority.

The abilities of some intelligent, civic-minded people are going to waste while about a quarter million tax dollars sit idle. This isn't necessarily the result of some government boondoggle, just one of those things that didn't work out as planned. But that doesn't mean officials can't do anything to correct this situation. The Howard County Revenue Authority has had little to do in the five years since it was formed, initially to study and secure funding for a parking garage in Ellicott City's historic district.

Parkville-area residents plan to hoist picket signs, unfurl a banner and take to the street once again Friday evening to save a parking lot on Harford Road they say is essential to the survival of their community's main street. For the second time in 12 months, the area community association and business organization are calling for a rally at the Lavender Avenue parking lot in hopes of persuading the Baltimore County Revenue Authority not to sell the lot and to keep its 56 metered and two handicapped parking spaces available to the public.

The Baltimore County Revenue Authority is reopening negotiations on its agreement with developers of Towson Circle III and plans to talk with the new county administration about its commitment to the project after a financial analyst raised questions about the deal. On Thursday, the authority postponed a vote on a pact covering its role in financing an underground parking garage for the movie theater, store, restaurant and office complex along East Joppa Road. Instead, the authority held a 15-minute closed-door session to consider new proposals from the developers, Heritage Properties Inc. and the Cordish Cos. Donald P. Hutchinson, chairman of the authority, which runs parking garages, public golf courses and an indoor recreation center, would not discuss details of the developers' proposals.

A reader named John Dusch sent along an article from the Gazette in Prince George's County on speed cameras, thinking I'd be interested. I was. It seems the Prince George's County Council has approved plans for speed cameras and has designated the county Revenue Authority to determine the 50 school sites where they will be deployed. The Revenue Authority? What are these people thinking? Regular readers of this column are well aware that I have no objections to speed cameras and would cheer if they were installed on every road in the state.

Though the perception might be otherwise, historic Ellicott City doesn't need a parking garage or more spaces - at least not yet. What's needed is better management of existing parking, according to a consultant's study for the Howard County revenue authority. Michael Connor said that the recommendation is preliminary and that his study won't be complete until next month. But he gave three members of the revenue authority a preview at a meeting last week. The study by Desman Associates of McLean, Va., examined parking in the congested Main Street area on a Friday and Saturday in October.

Bills allowing speed cameras and mobile home park residents the right to buy the land under their homes before a park is sold failed to win General Assembly approval before the 90-day session ended Monday night. The two bills represented the biggest issues local legislators faced this year, but they weren't the only local bills approved by the county delegation that failed to be enacted. A third measure offering liability protection, enjoyed by county government, to the new Howard County Revenue Authority under a self-insurance program also failed.

In a decision influenced by County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III, the independent county revenue authority hired one of his top aides, Robert R. Staab, to be its new director of golf operations.Mr. Staab, a former state legislator and county recreation and parks director, is to assume the $85,000-a-year job Nov. 7. But he has been working on the golf program since August, when the revenue authority took over operation of the Longview, Rocky Point and Diamond Ridge courses.The appointment was important for the county executive, whose political prestige -- along with millions of dollars -- is on the line.

County Executive John G. Gary has introduced legislation that would create Anne Arundel's first private agency to raise money for recreational projects that the county has been unable to afford with taxpayer money.The bill to form the Recreational Revenue Authority, presented to the County Council on Monday night, culminates months of state-level lobbying and intensive planning. It would establish a nine-member board with the power to issue bonds, raise money from the private sector and operate almost entirely outside county government bureaucracy.

In response to a Dec. 30 letter (No public funds for 50-meter pool), I would like to point out that the county is awaiting a study (to be released mid-2008) to determine if it is feasible to build such a facility, and if so, is considering funding such a project through bonds issued by the Revenue Authority - not through the traditional funding method of the county's capital budget. Like parking garages, aquatic complexes are revenue generators. As long as a swim facility is able to cover its debt service through user fees, partial- and full-facility rentals, and concessions, it would not drain the tax base since it would not draw from capital budget funds.

Revenue Authority OKs garage funding Baltimore County's Revenue Authority board voted yesterday to spend $18.2 million on a new parking garage for Towson Circle III, a private retail development in the county seat. The authority's board of directors approved funding the 630-space garage, to be built above the $32 million center, by a vote of 3 to 1, with one member abstaining, said George E. Hale, chief executive of the Revenue Authority. Plans for Towson Circle III, a joint development by Heritage Properties and the Cordish Co., include a 14-screen, 2,200-seat, stadium-style movie theater, 21,500 square feet of restaurant space and 11,000 square feet of retail space, according to county officials.