Harford County, MD - Executive Web Log

BLOG POST: THE PICERNE PROJECT AT THE ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND

Blog Posted By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:55 AM EST

Post:
In our continuing efforts to help facilitate a smooth transition for BRAC with our military partners at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Harford County Government is working to help enhance the military housing at APG at no cost to county taxpayers. In 1996, Congress authorized the Residential Communities Initiatives Program (RCI) which allows for the privatization of military housing across the country. Through a combination of private and public resources, the United States Army has been able to upgrade the quality of homes that it provides for service members. RCI is a critical component of the Army’s effort to eliminate inadequate housing and make Army installations safe, attractive and modern places for service members and their families to live. To that extent, the Army has privatized 98% of its on post family housing the U.S. and the APG initiative is one of the last remaining sites to be addressed. The firm chosen by the Department of Defense for the APG housing initiative is Picerne. Picerne is not and will not be under contract with Harford County Government to build or modernize housing on the APG. The Army and Picerne form a partnership in which the Army contributes the ground in the form of a lease and Picerne contributes its construction, development and management expertise. Picerne takes on debt in the Capital Markets by leveraging the rental income stream, also known as Basic Allowance for Housing. The debt, combined with the Net Operating Income of the project, will be used for the construction and renovation of all homes during the six-year initial development period. All income from the project is reinvested into the project. Recently, Picerne partnered with the Army on six installations (Ft. Meade, Ft. Bragg, Ft. Polk, Ft. Rucker, Ft. Riley and Ft. Sill, serving as developer, property manager and general contractor. In doing so it was recently recognized by the Association of Defense Communities for its efforts to improve housing for the warfighters. Picerne, supported by the Aberdeen Proving Ground, has requested that Harford County designate the on-base redevelopment of family housing as a “Priority Development Area” and thus help facilitate the issuance of conduit taxable municipal bonds to finance the redevelopment. This proposal does not require any taxing for financial support from the taxpayers of Harford County and it does not adversely affect Harford County in any way. Harford County does benefit from the redevelopment of the Post, as nearly $68 million of the Picerne Project must be spent on local, small and disadvantaged businesses in our community. The conduit bonds do not require the credit or taxing powers of Harford County or the State of Maryland and will only be backed by the credit of the military family housing project. I have tried my best since 2005 to do all I can as County Executive to support our friends at the APG as we prepare for the challenges and opportunities that BRAC brings to our region. Providing cost effective housing and attractive housing for military families that live on post here in Harford County is also in the best interest of the county. Therefore, Harford County Government supports the Picerne Project at APG and we look forward to helping to bring this initiative to fruition in the near future, once again at no cost to the taxpayers of Harford County. This is our chance to truly help our men and women in uniform who protect our basic freedoms.

BLOG POST: A DISCUSSION ON COUNTY WIDE COMPREHENSIVE RE-ZONING

Blog Posted By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:22 PM EST

Post:
Harford County Code requires a comprehensive zoning review a minimum of every eight years. On August 11, 2009 County Council President Billy Boniface and I signed Harford County Bill 09-23. The signing of this bill was the culmination of a 14 month process that began in May 2008 when the legislation to initiate the Comprehensive Zoning Review Process was approved. The Harford County Department of Planning and Zoning received 327 applications from land owners requesting zoning changes. Each application was reviewed for consistency with Harford County’s goals regarding land use, growth management, resource protection, and economic development. Coming on the heals of completing an 18 month process to rewrite the Zoning Code and Development Regulations, this review of over 300 rezoning requests was completed with professionalism by the P&Z staff. Harford County citizens can be assured that each and every application received a thorough analysis that examined the surrounding communities and considered future use and needs. The County Council President and Council members in turn carefully reviewed each recommendation they received from the Planning & Zoning Department and the Planning Advisory Board. Each Council member was keenly engaged with community leaders and neighborhood representatives within their districts to ensure that citizens concerns were heard, communicated, and negotiated. The updated Zoning Code established Transfer of Development Rights program and there were several applications requesting RR zoning that were within areas designated for Rural Residential use in the 2004 Land Use Element Plan. This is another tool that will help Harford County preserve farms and farmland. The overall review of the requested zoning changes included comments from citizens and advisory groups. The Planning and Zoning staff and I met with officers from the Friends of Harford to discuss their review of all the requested zoning changes. I cannot over emphasize how much I admire the work of the Friends and the volunteer time that they devote to this process. Planning and Zoning conducted four public input meetings. The County Council conducted three public hearings. And new technology was introduced this year on the County website that featured an interactive page that allowed citizens to view each application via GIS tracking and also provide comment. I am grateful for the hard work and dedication of the Planning and Zoning staff during this process. I commend the County Council President for his role in managing this important land use issue. And, I feel especially fortunate to be the Executive of a county whose citizens are involved, engaged, and always committed to keep Harford County a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 23:56 PM EST

Comment:
Not all county employees received a 9% raise last year, grant funded employees went without it. Harford County employees perform many duties that I hope you never need. We make sure that fire hydrants work, so if there is a fire, it can be extinguished. I can tell you that most citizens don't find value in this, unless their property is on fire. We have shared in the burden balancing the budget too. We pay more for health care and pensions. We are being cut in pay too. These are tough times
Response:
Every day, people get up and expect water to come out of the tap, waste to be flushed away, operators to answer 911 calls, animal control to pick up strays, streets to be plowed in snow storms, libraries to be open, buses to run, and a host of other services. County employees make sure that all these things happen and hopefully those people who receive these services will try to ensure that they stay in place.

COMMENT ON: A DISCUSSION OF PROPERTY TAX CAP RELIEF

Comment Posted By: Pat McGrady — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:49 PM EST

Comment:
Mr. Craig, I am glad to see you recognize and acknowledge the need to reduce the budget and tax cap down to 5%. It's unrealistic to present this '10 budget as is and expect to fund it, 2111, with a lower income/revenue, w/t many more furloughs, lay offs or broken contracts due to the number of capital projects included in this budget. It's misleading to imply the budget can sustain itself in this situation.We can't afford this budget. Period. You have to cut and postpone projects. God Bles

BLOG POST: A DISCUSSION OF PROPERTY TAX CAP RELIEF

Blog Posted By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:30 PM EST

Post:
I have been following all the discussions lately that have focused on County property taxes. I am also aware that many of our citizens have been in some way impacted by the downturn in our national economy, which has brought this issue to the fore front. Some families have had truly tangible, life altering experiences such as loss of a job, a home, or retirement savings. The concern about ever increasing property assessments is not a new issue to me and other county officials. It is an issue that is and will continue to be addressed in a way that allows Harford County to provide much needed services to our citizens and focus on reducing the amount of hard earned dollars and cents that residents pay for the privilege of living in our great county. Over a year ago I worked with the county council to develop a phased in reduction of the property tax cap. That agreement started with a reduction of the cap from 10% to 9% which took place this year. The next step is to reduce it from 9% to 5% by the FY11 budget (calendar year 2010). This will put us more into line with surrounding counties and reduce the affect of the increasing state assessments. Last year we also improved the Home Owner's Property Tax Credit Program by changing the income and asset limits. A new law passed this year will allow us to again improve that program by reducing the age limit from 70 to 65. Since the law does not really take affect until after June, I will be working with the council to pass this legislation in July so we can have it in place for next year. This plan for a reduction of the property tax cap to 5% provides meaningful tax relief for Harford’s citizens. Watch the county's website to see when these pieces of legislation will be on the county council's agenda so you can contact your council member.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: john mallamo — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:31 AM EST

Comment:
Sir, Please say it isn't so. You are not seriously proposing to offer the tax break package to OPUS LLC, an out of state corporation, as reported in the May 20 edition of the AEGIS are you? $.36 per rentable square foot, adjusted to the Consumer Price Index every 5 years. Why can't every other business in Harford County get a similar deal. They pay $2.70 dollars per hundred dollar of assessed value adjusted to replacement cost every 3 years. Where is the fairness in that?

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: PJ Macon | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:45 PM EST

Comment:
HB 781 - Property Tax Credit - Seniors was just signed into MD State Law on 5/7/2009. When does Harford County Council plan on adopting and implementing this Property Tax Credit for those over 65 with limited income?
Response:
The Homeowner's Tax Credit law has been in place in Harford County for several years. Two years ago we initiated local legislation to improve it so that it could include more people. The change that took place this year (HB 781) lowers the qualifying age from 70 to 65. The law does not take effect until June 1, 2009. Since it takes a minimum of 45 days to pass legislation it cannot affect this year's tax bills. I will be sending the appropriate legislation over to the Harford County Council in July.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Fri, 15 May 2009 12:27 PM EST

Comment:
Mr. Craig, 4 Million for the Shucks Park and 2 million for the road project are new projects not included in the budget. Can you explain this?
Response:
Samaria - The Schucks Road Park Project was included in the capital budget on page 250 and the Schucks Road improvements were included on page 292. It is my belief that both will be amended out by the county council.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: john mallamo — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:41 PM EST

Comment:
Sir, I am surprised flattered humbled that although we never discussed RT22 you heard my complaint. I had no idea my voice reached highest levels of County. I truly hope that you will listen once more, to myself and others, especially County Employees you generously rewarded last year. Please restructure your budget, reduce 9% property tax raise and give back the the 5 furlough days, a 2% pay reduction. By the way, none of your highway projects solves RT22. Your Schucks Road park worsens it.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Thu, 14 May 2009 16:59 PM EST

Comment:
The BOE budget needs to be posted so it can be reviewed by the parents of the students in the schools. Why isn't it? Do all of the schools get the same budgeted amount? How can one tell if the school is getting it's fair share? How are the teachers evaluated and how are the schools held accountable to the parents/taxpayers? It seems to me that with the quarterly reports on schools, are they being challenged and then the issues raised addressed and by whom?
Response:
Roberta - Posting the Board's budget is an excellent idea. Since that responsibility would be with the Board, I will relay your request to Board President Patrick Hess. The rest of your questionss are not budget related, but should be directed to the person who represents you on the Board - in your case, Dr. Leonard Wheeler.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: Arnold | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:55 PM EST

Comment:
The BOE is a major expense, why is their budget not itemized by category/line item. The schools need more computers and more hands on teaching and maybe more time in the classroom, and less time moving around to other classes. Focus on basic skills, reading, math, science, history,English, where is the money going in the BOE budget?
Response:
Arnold - The Maryland Department of Education determines how the Board has to create the line items on its budget - neither the Board nor I have any control ver how that is done.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: James Jones | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:21 AM EST

Comment:
Don't throw away money on Parks and Rec programs right now. Money is tight and we need to save as much as we can for the future and by you spending our money so freely, my living standards are lowered. When you have the money, then build but don't spend borrowed money.
Response:
The 70,000 county registrants who actively participate in one or more of our programs would most likely disagree that the money spent on Parks and Recreation is being thrown away. Most of the capital projects are paid for with special funds which can legally only be spent on Parks and Recreation facilities. That means not funding them would have no effect on the property tax.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: john mallamo | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:15 PM EST

Comment:
Sir, Please explain why, when the state reduced the highway user fee revenue, used for roads in Harford County, you did not reduce expenditures equivalently, but increased highway expenditures from $16M in 2009 to $32M in 2010. Your action in this case caused a 9 percent increase in residential property taxes and even more in commercial property taxes, which is a severe impact on residents of Harford County in today's economy.
Response:
Just because the state acted irresponsibly in taking our highway user revenues doesn’t mean that the roads do not need to be maintained. As you yourself complained about the traffic at Route 22, something needs to be done. The irony is these economic times are the best times to have capital projects completed because they come in below the estimates.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: Pat McGrady | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Fri, 8 May 2009 08:36 AM EST

Comment:
Mr.Craig, I am confused-you say that the BAHS is not fully funded by the state, but that county plans to build 4 new schools this next year. The deten.ctr. ought not house state criminals w/t state re-imbursement, so why is it? The budget has non-life sustaining items,--maybe saying no or wait to some projects is applicable, just like w/ family budgets. People's lost homes & jobs decrease your budget. Cons. Yield rates will help. When prop. rates incr. people go elsewhere to live/work.Thank
Response:
No outside funding for any project that the county is responsible for building is ever guaranteed. Also, state and federal funds are always a reimbursement—never given upfront. If we waited for the money to come first we would never build any project. Just because the state can, and often does, ignore its responsibility does not mean we should do the same. On the issue of the county housing state criminals, the county has no choice in the matter—this was done by state law and state action—and your complaint should be to your state officials for not only letting it happen but making it happen. An extra voice making these arguments to the state would be very helpful instead of your county officials being the only ones that fight that issue. David Craig

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: Roger Sheets | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Sun, 3 May 2009 21:17 PM EST

Comment:
Honorable David Craig The issue of crime in Harford County will continue to be a major concern to our citizens. We have seen an increase in the major crime categories in 2007 & 2008. What are the initiatives at the County level that will help to impact the increase in crime? What major funding areas will you see as critical for supporting law enforcement in Harford County?
Response:
Roger: As you know, Harford County does not operate its own police department, so all these initiatives you write of begin in the Sheriff's Office. Our major means of assisting the Sheriff is through funding. My major goal last year was to fully staff the Sheriff's Office, which was accomplished. The major initiative for this year will be the completion of the addition to the detention center and the staffing required to run it. David Craig

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: pat mcgrady | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Sun, 3 May 2009 12:56 PM EST

Comment:
Dear Mr. Craig, Re: Prop. Tax increase for 2010 When you prepared your budget, you made decisions on which programs to fund. By determining which revenue was available, you reviewed each source of funding, incl. prop. tax revenue. Why did you not accept the const.yield rate which would keep the county funding the same as 2009? You will increase Prop. taxes by 9%on homeowners and 11% on business, why now? Thank you for your time. Pat McGrady
Response:
Mr. McGrady: There were several actions and inactions by the state government which affected all counties and their ability to maintain their constant yield tax rate. This occurred in two ways. In some cases, funds which are paid by you to the state but are supposed to come back to Harford County were kept by the state and spent for other things at the state level to mask their deficit. Just to cite an example, the state kept $6.1 million in highway user revenue which was supposed to come to Harford County. That alone equals over 3 cents on our tax rate. A second action by the state was to shift costs to the counties. Let me cite a specific example. Many of the prisoners in our detention center are, in fact, state prisoners and should be housed in a state facility. Up until this year the state paid the costs to incarcerate these prisoners. Starting next year they will not - which is not fair since you are still paying the state tax which should have covered the cost. That shift was over $2.8 million. All together, the ten to twelve actions by the state cost Harford Countians $14.5 million, which would have amounted to over half the difference in the constant yield. Added to that was the fact that the state has not met its obligation to pay its share of the construction of Bel Air High School. Harford County could have met its share of the cost and the debt service and still remained within the constant yield if we had received our fair share of that one school. The state share should be $41 million; they have only given us $14 million. That alone would cover the difference in the constant yield. We will still push to get that money back. I did receive your letter and will be responding to you about the budget cutting I did which amounted to over $75 million this year. Please keep in mind that whenever the state sees that counties are able to maintain the constant yield they will shift some more state expenses to the counties to prevent them from doing that. You can expect that next year they will shift the cost of teacher pensions to the counties. For Harford County, that would be $28 million - ring a bell? The difference in the constant yield! Thank you for taking the time to write.

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: Gene | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:09 AM EST

Comment:
I'm a new guy in the county, moved here August 2002. And am retired.I will say that my home in Harford County is by far the most desirable home I have ever lived in. The combination of open space active farmland,residential communities and modern convinces creates a most desirable place to live.My concern is Taxes/fees.All projects should be full funded before beginning and funded sources made public.Windfalls should not be considered unless legally obtainable. Thank you for your time. Gene
Response:
Gene: The capital budget for each year has a project name and line item for each project. The line item tells how much the total project will cost and details each source of revenue involved. Very large projects often carry over for three or four budget years. An example is a school. The first year, we budget the planning and design. In the second and third years, we budget for the construction. In the fourth year, we budget furnishings. We budget the money needed on a cash flow basis for each particular year. This saves us from paying debt service on money we have not even spent. I hope you continue to enjoy Harford County. David Craig

COMMENT ON: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Comment Posted By: Bruce Lewis | Response By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:00 PM EST

Comment:
County Executive Craig, We appreciate your adherence to fiscal responsibility and your concern for everyday citizens by not raising taxes. We are all still working hard, trying to feed our families and paying mortgage, but feeling the pinch! There has been a recent uptick in home sales, but unemployment remains on the rise. What revenue factors will guide your FY 11 budget? Stable home sales/refinance, decreased unemployment, or business growth? Or other factors? Thank you for the blog!
Response:
Thank you for taking time to write. As we put together the FY 10 budget, we tried to anticipate continued drop in revenues - particularly income tax (as a result of increased unemployment) and any revenues dealing with housing construction, i.e. impact fees, transfer taxes and recordation taxes. The other major factor for FY 11 will be state cuts to local government or the shift of state responsibilities to local government, particularly teacher's pensions. We will continue to watch these issues on a weekly basis and manage our expenditures. This could include the hiring freeze as well as seeking more opportunities for efficiency in operations. David Craig

BLOG POST: INITIAL WEB BLOG FROM THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Blog Posted By: David R. Craig, County Executive — Thu, 9 Apr 2009 13:01 PM EST

Post:
These have been challenging times for our economy and the affects have reached down to local government. As I worked to put together the budget for FY 10, I discovered an obvious and major decline in revenues. Raising taxes was and will not be an option! This meant that the expenditure or spending side of the budget was the place to find solutions. The budget I presented to the County Council is smaller than last year's budget by $75 million. Half of that is a reduction in operating expenses and the other half is a reduction in capital projects. The FY 10 budget contains no new programs, no new positions, no salary or cost-of-living adjustment and real reductions in each department that reports to the county executive. We still face pressure from the State in picking up programs that previously were the responsibility of the State, as well as a reduction in the State funding formula. This Blog is our first attempt to use this technology to provide citizens with a forum to communicate directly with the county executive on matters of importance to them. Each week we will try to open a new topic for the public. I hope you will use this tool to help us guide your county government in the direction you believe it should take. Thank you.