Putting a face on MACo
County Executive Jim Smith will make a rare appearance before the County Council later today.
Smith will be wearing his other hat, as president of the Maryland Association of Counties, when he appears with David Bliden, who is retiring executive director of the association.
The pair will speak for 10-15 minutes about the successes of MACo in advocating for the interests of local jurisdictions including Baltimore County, according to a source familiar with Smith’s appearance.
The goal is to put a face on a nebulous lobbying entity of which many elected officials may only be slightly aware. The pair also want to talk about successes the organization has had in the past year, including the passage of slots legislation, advocating for school construction money and lobbying to prevent state government from shifting costs of some programs to the counties, the source said.
The last time Smith appeared before the council during a work session was in 2002 when he was running for his first term. He testified against a charter amendment that would require future county executives to submit all department head appointment to the council for confirmation.
Smith, who completes his term as president of the association on Jan. 8, has spent the last year traveling the state, with Bliden doing similar presentations.
Baltimore County is the 21st stop on the list. Howard, Kent and Caroline counties each will get a visit between now and the end of the year.
It should be noted that the travel also afforded Smith the opportunity to get some face time in every jurisdiction in the state. Smith completes his second and final term as county executive in 2010. He continues to raise money in his state campaign account and is widely believed to be eying a statewide office — potentially a run against state Comptroller Peter Franchot.
As Smith touts the successes of the organization during his year in office, the news is not completely cheery.
State revenue estimates due later this month are expected to be dramatically lower than original estimates, according to one county government source.
That’s likely to force state legislators to look to local jurisdictions to foot the costs of some programs currently paid for by the state. The low-hanging fruit there could be the $635 million the state spends to fund the teacher pension program.
The share to Baltimore County alone would be $75 million. That’s equal to a 13 cent increase to the county’s property tax of $1.10 per $100 of assessed value, according to Smith.
Increasing property taxes to cover that cost would not be an option, Smith said last month.