Maryland / Regional
O'Malley warns of
further Md. cuts
(Baltimore Sun)
Md. Will Trim
Aid For Local Services
(Washington Post)
Fire deaths rise in
Maryland
(Carroll County Times)
National /
International
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Opinion
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Maryland / Regional
O'Malley warns of
further Md. cuts
Governor tells local officials that counties must share pain
By Laura Smitherman
Baltimore Sun
Sunday, August 16, 2009
OCEAN CITY - Gov. Martin O'Malley warned Saturday of reductions
in state funding for police, health departments and community
colleges as he spoke to local government officials who are
expected to absorb $250 million in cuts.
The Democratic governor, delivering his annual address at the
summer conference of the Maryland Association of Counties, tried
to cast allegiance with localities in what he characterized as a
joint effort to confront recession-wrought deficits. But he
provided few details on how the cuts would be allocated by
county and program.
"I know that none of you got into public service in order to
dismantle your government," O'Malley said, after noting that he
had trouble sleeping Friday night after a closed-door meeting
with MACo board members who vented frustration about the budget
situation.
"You go into public service, whether you're a Democrat or a
Republican, because you want to build things up, you want to
make things better," O'Malley said. "This is all very hard on
all of us."
Depending on how they're structured, the reductions could mean
library closings, fewer road improvement projects and other
cutbacks in Baltimore and the 23 counties that benefit from
state aid. The reductions also could force counties to lay off
employees or raise taxes, though officials said next year's
election would make tax increases politically difficult to
enact.
O'Malley also mentioned possible reductions in so-called
disparity grants that go to poorer areas of the state, including
Prince George's County and Baltimore.
"Everybody's bracing for this," said Baltimore County Executive
James T. Smith Jr., a Democrat.
Republicans objected to the lack of specificity from the
governor. The state Senate GOP caucus posted an analysis on its
Web site saying that local officials wanting "hard facts" were
"sorely disappointed."
O'Malley plans to propose about $470 million in further cuts
this month to the Board of Public Works, which can reduce the
budget to make up for falling tax revenue when the General
Assembly is not in session. Next year, O'Malley expects a budget
gap of about $1.5 billion.
O'Malley, a former Baltimore mayor, has tried to shield local
governments during previous rounds of cuts. That has prompted
grumbling among Annapolis lawmakers who say that local
governments must share the burden. Some counties have given
employees raises or cut property tax rates while state workers
have been furloughed.
When trying to balance the budget approved in April, lawmakers
cut more than $160 million in road maintenance funding from
local governments.
Harford County Executive David R. Craig said the legislature
must stop passing unfunded mandates for education and other
programs that cause the state budget to balloon. The county
recently laid off about three-dozen employees and implemented
furloughs while also enacting a slight property tax cut.
"We've shared in the pain already," said Craig, a Republican.
"There's only so much we can do."
Local governments have been feeling the tax pinch as well. Local
income tax collections have shrunk nearly 5 percent this year,
and recordation taxes are down more than 8 percent. While
property tax revenues rose by more than 6 percent, analysts say
that won't continue as assessed values begin to reflect the
declining home market.
Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun.
Md. Will Trim Aid
For Local Services
O'Malley Warns Of $250 Million In Budget Cuts
By John Wagner
Washington Post
Sunday, August 16, 2009
OCEAN CITY -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley told county
officials Saturday to brace for $250 million in cuts in state
aid for local health services, police departments, community
colleges and road maintenance to help balance the state budget.
The former mayor of Baltimore, O'Malley has largely resisted
cutting aid to local governments in previous rounds of budget
cuts. But the aid -- which accounts for more than 40 percent of
the state's general fund budget -- has become an increasingly
attractive target as tax revenue lags in the bad economy.
The reductions in state aid will be a large part of a new
package of budget cuts the governor plans to formally propose
Aug. 26, aides said.
O'Malley (D) needs to close a $700 million shortfall that
emerged in the state's $13 billion budget weeks into a new
fiscal year. The governor told county leaders gathered here for
an annual conference that he had trouble sleeping the night
before as he prepared to deliver the news.
"I know that none of you go into public service to dismantle
your government," O'Malley said. "You go into public service,
whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, because you want to
build things up, you want to make things better than you found
them. This is all very hard on all of us."
The impact could be substantial. State aid is the largest source
of revenue for most county governments in Maryland, although
dependence on the funding varies greatly. More affluent
jurisdictions rely more heavily on property and income taxes.
As a share of county revenue, state aid ranges from a low of 14
percent for Montgomery County to 49 percent in Somerset County,
according to state analysts. State money flows to the counties
through dozens of individual programs.
"We're going to see a lot more pink slips and furloughs," said
Michael Sanderson, executive director of the Maryland
Association of Counties. "I think that's absolutely what's going
to happen. The easy nips and tucks have already been done at
this point."
O'Malley said education will be spared but plans to take the
savings from nearly $1 billion set aside for other local
programs in this year's budget.
County leaders at the convention said they could not say exactly
where cuts would come from until they receive specifics from
O'Malley and his staff. But they suggested that services
reduction, layoffs and furloughs would be unavoidable.
"This will hit us pretty hard," said Montgomery County Executive
Isiah Leggett (D), whose county laid off 400 employees and
eliminated more than 200 vacant positions to balance its budget.
Leggett did not specify where he would cut but said "everything
is on the table."
Leggett was among those at the conference who worry that even
more cuts loom.
State legislative analysts project a budget shortfall of about
$1.5 billion for the next fiscal year, which begins in July
2010. O'Malley's proposal for that budget is due to the General
Assembly in January.
O'Malley's lack of specificity about where cuts would come from
drew criticism from Republican leaders and two potential
candidates who are considering bids to replace him next year.
"He gave us a bunch of poetry and flowery language and avoided
the facts," said Larry Hogan, the state's appointments secretary
under former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).
Hogan is weighing a run for the Republican nomination. He said
that if O'Malley had better managed state government the past
three years, he would not need to turn to the counties for such
"drastic cuts."
"He's trying to get the local governments to bail him out,"
Hogan said.
George W. Owings III, the former veterans secretary under
Ehrlich, is considering a challenge to O'Malley in the
Democratic primary. He described the cuts to counties as "a
picking of the pocket." But Owings said: "I'm afraid it's
necessary at this point."
The budget troubles facing counties were reflected both in the
conference's agenda and turnout, which was down from last year.
Panel discussions during the week included: "Maintaining Viable
Services in an Economic Downturn" and "Reductions in Force,
Involuntary Terminations and Furloughs: Managing Employee
Behaviors in the Aftermath."
O'Malley ordered that only "essential" employees from his
administration make the trip this year. O'Malley also canceled a
late-night reception Friday night at Seacrets, a popular bayside
bar, citing the $12,000 cost that was to be incurred by state
government.
Copyright 2009 Washington Post.
Fire deaths rise in
Maryland
By Ryan Marshall
Carroll County Times
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The number of Marylanders killed by fire in the first half of
2009 has risen compared to the same period in 2008, according to
the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
There were 47 fire deaths in the first six months of 2009,
compared to 33 in the first half of 2008, according to a fire
marshal’s office release.
Deputy State Fire Marshal Joe Zurolo said officials are
struggling to come up with a reason for the increase.
Many of the deaths have occurred in homes in Prince George’s
County and Baltimore and happened because someone fell asleep
while smoking or improperly discarded smoking materials, he
said.
Because of the increase, the fire marshal’s office has been
promoting the installation of residential sprinkler systems as a
tool in fighting house fires. Many areas, including Carroll,
require sprinklers to be installed in newly constructed homes.
Zurolo also emphasized that working smoke alarms provide the
first line of defense against fires in the home.
The county’s last death from fire came in May.
Fire marshals haven’t determined the cause of the fire that
killed Duane Fuller, 39, while he slept in the cab of his Ford
pickup in a church parking lot on May 22, Zurolo said.
Fuller was the vice president of a Glen Burnie-based company
working on the Hampstead Bypass project. Fuller’s was the last
fire-related death in Carroll, Zurolo said.
Fuller’s truck was found on fire in the early-morning hours of
May 22 in the parking lot of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in the
1600 block of Cape Horn Road in Hampstead.
No official cause of death has been released, pending a
determination of the cause of the fire, Maryland State Police
Detective Sgt. Jim DeWees, of the Westminster barrack, said
Friday.
Previously, the last deadly house fire in Carroll County
occurred in May 2008.
Daniel Merchant, 46, died from a May 21, 2008, fire at his home
in the 7500 block of Middleburg Road in Detour.
Reach staff writer Ryan Marshall at 410-857-7865 or
ryan.marshall@carrollcountytimes.com.
Copyright 2009 Carroll County Times.
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