Strange Bedfellows

Comptroller Peter Franchot came to Towson last week, preaching the gospel of penny-pinching in a place even he seemed to think was a bit odd — a Democratic club meeting.

Franchot spoke to about 50 attendees of the Central Baltimore County Democratic Club last Tuesday and compared the economy to a blizzard.

“The snow has stopped falling, but there’s 10 feet outside and it’s going to take a while to dig out,” Franchot said, adding that the possibility of new taxes to support state spending is slim to none until the economy rebounds.

“As Democrats, we have to reform state spending,” Franchot said. “A lot of Democrats look at me like, ‘What’s that?’ Like they took an oath to defend every last dime of spending in public programs.” (more…)

Republican Councilman Bryan McIntire had debt on the brain — specifically the growing state debt.

The County Council unanimously approved Monday night a debt policy statement that is now required to be submitted to the state.

The General Assembly passed a law earlier this year requiring each jurisdiction to provide a document that governs how bonds are issued and which types of debt are used in each county. (more…)

Del. Pat McDonough says people are talking to him about running for governor and he’s decided to listen — up to a point.

McDonough said he is beginning a “testing the waters” process, which he defined as “something less formal than an exploratory process.”

McDonough, a Republican who represents the 7th District, has previously expressed an interest in running for county executive.

But over the past few months, the three-term delegate said he has been getting calls from listeners to his radio show on WCBM, and also comments from people he meets encouraging him to run for governor. (more…)

Last week several councilman grilled county school system officials on the subject of air conditioning in some schools, specifically Ridgely Middle School.

But not everyone felt the focus should be solely on comfort.

Councilman Vince Gardina, a 5th District Democrat who represents aan area that stretches from Perry Hall to Towson, is the council’s conscience when it comes to green issues, and last Thursday’s budget hearing with the schools system was no different. For about five minutes, Gardina turned the focus on sweltering classrooms into a discussion about energy conservation. (more…)

It’s a rare event for a county agency to escape the budget ax when it comes before the County Council during annual budget hearings. Most departments can expect to see some type of recommendation ranging from a nick to a full-blown cut. (more…)

Community College of Baltimore County employees almost had $863 million reasons to be happy about County Executive Jim Smith’s budget.

County Auditor Mary Allen was outlining about $12 million in proposed salary increases during the council’s annual overview of the budget on Tuesday.  Most of the raises come as cost of living adjustments for county employees. The lion’s share of that, about $11 million, would go to county teachers. (more…)

The Community College of Baltimore County has a new, eye-catching vehicle to publicize the college.

The car in the photo to the left was parked on Chesapeake Avenue across from the Old Courthouse on Monday night (click to enlarge). College officials were in Towson attending a reception with council members. (You can see some alternate shots here and here.) (more…)

Budgets are the guiding star for local governments. The playbook for what an administration has in mind for the coming 12 months.

But getting them done is often as challenging as it is for many of us to get our taxes done by the April 15 deadline. This is especially true this year for Baltimore County, but procrastination is not the issue.

The budget for county, and other jurisdictions in the state, is tied into what happens in Annapolis during the 90-day session that ends April 13. (more…)

As the House of Delegates begins debate this week on a budget package that could bring deep cuts in local aid to Baltimore County, members of the county’s House delegation focused their attention on legalizing video lottery terminals for use by nonprofit organizations in the county.

Del. Eric Bromwell, chairman of the county delegation, offered an amendment Tuesday morning to add Baltimore County to a bill regarding slot machines, which affects, among other counties, Worcester County. (more…)

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller’s desire to share the state’s budget pain with local jurisdictions isn’t sitting well with County Executive Jim Smith.

“Everybody is dealing with some fiscal strain,” Smith said. “To pass it along to someone else because you have the votes isn’t sound fiscal management and isn’t good government.” (more…)