From the Harford Campaign for Liberty:
Dear Friends of Liberty,
I know the freedom fighters of Harford County are not asleep. I also happen to know that you are not a group of passive sheep. How, might you wonder? Since, April 15, 2009, you have come out in the freezing cold, pouring rain to attend massive tea parties and rallies on a variety of issues that threaten your liberty and wallet from the Tax Day TEA Parties to the 9-12 March on Washington to the many protest against Obama Care and on the County Council to reduce the property tax rate and homestead tax cap. You are by no means “Sunshine Patriots.” You are an educated group of people. This, I know because of your regular attendance at the monthly Campaign for Liberty meetings. You understand complex issues of the nation, state, and county.
At times, all of this may seem overwhelming, but your momentum is definitely making a difference. My position is that, collectively, we are still too small a movement in Harford County to effect real change in Washington. With the conservatives outnumbered in Annapolis, that situation doesn’t lend itself in our favor either. Where I do believe with all my heart that we can make a difference is right here at home in Harford County.
For the next two to three months, it is time to prioritize – Harford County front burner; state and country back burner. In fact, I ask that you take ownership and pledge to become experts and activists in the County Budget Process. I know you can do this because you understand complex issues like QE2, debt ceiling, Federal Reserve, and monetizing the debt. If you can understand that, then you can easily understand and grasp the Harford County Budget. Furthermore, many of you have had months of priming on this through your attendance at the Campaign for Liberty meetings.
So, let me present to you the current situation.
Folks, believe it or not, in these tough economic times, agencies in Harford County are proposing more spending even as revenues are shrinking. The Board of Education budget is $24 million more this year than last year. The Harford Community College is $3 million more this year than last year. The Sheriff could identify an increase to staff the new County Detention facility. The County Executive will release his Fiscal Year 2012 budget in April of 2011. From all indications, he will identify additional capital projects that will be paid for with debt.
The Income Tax and Property Tax revenues, the primary sources of funds to support the budget are expected to be at or slightly above last years levels. This is the first year where property assessments will not increase and automatically provide additional revenue. In fact, as a result of declining market conditions, property assessments will decrease, and thus provide less revenue. Income Tax revenue is not expected to rise much, if at all, above last year’s levels in spite of BRAC and the jobs supposedly added. The current structure of taxes and fees will provide only a small increase over last year’s, but not nearly enough to fund the above-requested increases in the budget. Simply stated, the County is taking in the same or slightly more money than it did last year, while requested expenditures are significantly higher.
Furthermore, State and Federal contributions will be less than last year. The State has no money. It will not provide the typical $16 million in highway revenues for the second year, and school funding has also been decreased. Even if the State had money, its formula for distributing funds is inversely proportional to the wealth of the County. That is as the wealth in the County increases, the State contribution decreases. Harford County wealth ranks in the middle and is rising slightly, in order to get more money the County wealth would have to be decreasing. It is unlikely that Harford County will get poorer, or that poorer Counties will get richer. In other words, the spigot has been turned off. The well is running dry.
What is Harford County to do to resolve this situation?
1. Maintain current tax and fee structure. No increase to the property tax rate. Increasing taxes will drive business away. You may hear that because of declining property valued, the Constant yield Rate requires that the County raise the Property Tax Rate to reach funding levels from last year. Remember this, the Constant Yield Rate was never observed when property values were increasing and revenues from the previous year could have been obtained with a lower property tax rate.
2. Reduce expenditures at all levels. Capital projects should be deferred, to reduce new debt. Review and reduce all operational costs, even if it is painful.
3. Step aside and let the private sector take over. Harford County should get out of functions that are not government in nature. Privatize solid waste disposal. Privatize Water and Sewer. Privatize Parks and Recreation. This action will not eliminate the functions, it will transfer them to a private entity, which can operate for a fee, with less funding. Obviously, there are some functions that cannot be performed by private sector employees, and these should be identified. A careful review of functions and positions should be undertaken to determine how much can be privatized to accrue maximum saved.
4. Consolidate like functions across all agencies and form hybrid government/private functions. Candidates for consolidation are equipment maintenance, human resources, information technology, purchasing, and planning.
How can you make a difference? Well, remember all those rallies you attended? I need you to answer the call and go beyond making posters and listening to good speeches. It is time for you to revolutionize Harford County to fiscal responsibility. I realize this is a lot of information to remember, please print it out for your reference and use.
Here is how you can make a difference:
1. Share this e-mail with everyone in your directory who lives or works in Harford County and beyond.
2. Start looking at the budget. Arm yourself with knowledge. Go to this website: http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/Budget/
Research the 2011 budget, and then compare it to the 2012 budget when it is released.
3. Communicate with County Executive. Politely provide your ideas for improving government and its cost directly to the County Executives web site at: http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/Executive/WebLog/
E-mail: CountyExecutive@harfordcountymd.gov
Write to David R. Craig, County Executive
Harford County Government
220 South Main Street
Bel Air, MD 21014
Phone call: 410.638.3350
Fax: 410.638.1387
Communicate with your councilman or woman:
County Council President Boniface, 410-638-3525
wkboniface@harfordcountymd.gov
District A, Councilman Guthrie 410-638-3521
dfguthrie@harfordcountymd.gov
District B, Councilman Woods 410-638-3520
jmwoods@harfordcountymd.gov
District C, Council McMahan 410-638-3523
jvmcmahan@harfordcountymd.gov
District D, Councilman Shrodes 410-638-3524
cshrodes@harfordcountymd.gov
District E, Councilman Slutzky 410-638-3522
rcslutzky@harfordcountymd.gov
District F, Councilwoman Lisanti 410-638-3526
malisanti@harfordcountymd.gov
Request in-person meetings with council members and the County Executive.
Attend Sessions of the County Council and other public meetings. County Council meetings are held on Tuesdays, at the A.A. Roberty building. The next County Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, 15 February 2011. Check for other meetings at the following web site: http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/Calendar.cfm.
And finally, encourage your friends, neighbors, relatives and coworkers to get involved.
A rally and protest signs will not produce the outcomes we are seeking, especially when you and I know of the crisis our country faces and agree on what has to be done. We know the worst is yet to come with the implementation of Obama Care when that starts hitting our pocketbooks on top of the debt, bloated spending, and deficit.
What happens when you chose to do nothing? Status quo rules the day. You lose the opportunity to direct the government along the path that you choose. Government goes its own way and you are left hoping they know what is best. So, it is time to promote yourself from rally to start doing what it takes to defend liberty in your backyard. This is how America was born in tiny little segments known as colonies coming together to fight and survive. We can achieve the same greatness in Harford County. With your vision and efforts. we will succeed.
THANK YOU
What the hell? “Freedom Fighters of Harford County”…… these guys are delusional. They make it sound like we live under a communist/marxist totalitarian regime. I like the idea of keeping a close eye on the budget, every citizen should. However, these guys just carry stuff too far.
What, in the text above, makes it sound like we live in a “communist/marxist totalitarian regime”?….the name of the group?
I’m not a member of the group, but it seems to me they’re just trying to keep the county in check, fiscally. Have you needed to adjust your household budget during these tougher economic times? Are you spending MORE or LESS money to keep your household running? Are you doing so after getting an INCREASE or DECREASE in your pay? I think they’re just trying to wake everyone up and get them involved in how the county budgets and conducts business. What’s delusional about that?
Are there other types of watchdog groups around the country that try and keep whatever group/organization/agency they’re keeping tabs on honest?
Do you implicitly trust those making fiscal decisions with OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY to always “do the right thing”?…or is it just the name of the group that pisses you off?
It’s not about being pissed off – Timothy McVeigh was pissed off. It’s about having an intelligent understanding of what we were taught in Social Studies/Civics decades ago. Our government does not run by plebiscite – it is a representative democracy, and yes, we ELECT “other people” to make to make those decisions. I suggest we spend more time – a LOT more time, looking at who we vote for. Maybe we should give them all IQ tests, too.
Again, my question is…do you IMPLICITLY trust those elected officials with OPM? I do not. Just as our federal system of government has three branches to enable checks and balances (theoretically, anyway), I don’t see an issue with the local general public forming a group to keep an eye on those we elected to make decisions for us at a local level.
As far as electing officials to office to make decisions for us, unfortunately it’s become a matter of choosing the lesser of evils. That’s the real problem with the system. It seems like (most) folks enter the political scene wanting to “do right” by the people, but they eventually become the sleazy dirt-bags we call our “elected leaders”.
Water/Sewer is already self-financed with its own enterprise fund and doesn’t get any money from the general fund. I think that’s true for solid waste as well. I guess we could privatize parks and rec if we want to start charging admission to all the parks…
a. Water and Sewer is not a peculiarly governmental function. Lines to the plant are installed by private enterprise.
There is no reason that Water and Sewer could not be entirely private, or government owned contractor operated. Cost savings come from efficiencies and labor cost reductions.
b. Solid Waste is not and enterprise fund, nor is it self sufficient. The recent increase in Tipping fees, ultimately raising the cost per ton from $50 to $72 may cover the operating cost, but not the cost of Capital. Additionally, the County is now providing steam to Aberdeen Proving Ground for less than it costs to produce. This is not the way to fiscal solvency.
c.There are abundant examples of Governments providing entertainment and recreation to their citizens. A classic example is the Roman Coliseum. Entertainment and Recreation are not a peculiarly government function. Government does not pay for a trip to Disney world, or any of the themed recreation parks, What makes a fee for using a park in Harford County different?
Contracting might make sense for solid waste but Harford County Water/Sewer is pretty cheap and well run. Check this out: water in Harford County is $1.71 per thousand gallons. Compare that to privately run Aqua America in Pennsylvania – over $9 per thousand gallons, and they just requested an increase to $10.
http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/dpw/ws/Newsletter/volume1.html
http://ir.aquaamerica.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=425241
Privatizing makes sense sometimes but not always.
Joan,
DO I LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT?
Privatizing water and sewer would make this deregulation. There would be NO competition just like BGE and Phone. A private company would desire to make a profit. In doing so they would raise rates and since you hand them a monoploy drasticlly. We have seen deregulation fail and our electric rates skyrocketed. To believe it wont happen again is assinine.
You’ve never posted a picture of yourself, so we really can’t tell.
True…..but only an idiot would bbelieve that deregulating water and sewer would give you anything different then when phones and power got deregulated. Higher bills!
One current Govt. monopoly that is not working is the US Post Office. UPS and Fed Ex do a great job w/t many of the impediments of the post office. That is one example of private sector success.
Fedex and UPS have less restrictions then USPS. Ask someone in the middle of now where Kansas about using Fedex. You will get a different outlook. USPS is mandated by charter and law to have branches open in small places that financilally do not make sense to keep mail routes open. UPS and Fedex deal with this by ignoring these small markets. It is comparing apples and oranges.
TO CDEV
Privatizing a utility does not effect deregulation. BGE is and always has been a private company. So has ATT, and many of the other companies/utilities that provide services and functions. Their rates and business are now and have always been regulated by governing jurisdictions. Most of them have been unable to raise their rates or change their services without approval from the governing jurisdictions. The mistake that most BGE customers make is to blame BGE for raising their rates so much at one time. That feature was allowed by the State Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission. In spite of the best efforts of the Governor to change the situation, market costs of fuel dictated the increase. True there were some concessions made to reduce the impact. Check your bill you are still paying the interest on that concession and will be for some time to come.
Assigning the cause of rising rates to the profit motive is not valid. BGE always made a profit, even when it was regulated. Competition between companies to operate a single water and sewer system would prevent a monopoly, and might just result in competitors seeking real ways to provide cost savings. Rates on both private and government utilities are regulated now, privatization would not change this. Electric rates rose not because of deregulation but because the state failed to construct a better deal, and the market cost of fuel. Finally, because the electric utility was deregulated, competitors have entered the market and are offering better prices to consumers.
CDEV
Sir,
BGE raised rates at the end of a six year period, during which they were fixed at a base year. BGE customers did not see any rate increases during this period, because the rate was fixed by the State Legislature. As a result BGE customers had no exposure to the market forces that were driving up the cost of fuel, and saved a lot of money.. At the end of the period, and as a direct result of the purchasing process established in legislation to deregulate, electric rates rose to market levels. Deregulation was not the sole and predominant cause of the significant increase, the market price of fuel was. Neither does sole fault for the increase lie with BGE. The State Legislature constructed the bill to deregulate. They may not have had sufficient resources to construct the best deal for BGE customers.
Comparing California and Maryland who both deregulated at about the same time provides an insight into how the construction is important. California jumped in aggressively, they went all in, and did not have provisions for futures contracting. When temperatures exceeded 100 degrees in San Diego for multiple consecutive days, California had to resort to purchasing electricity on the spot market. Spot market prices on seasonal commodities are typically much higher than those purchased as future contract for delivery in the season. True, there is evidence that Enron manipulated the situation, and grid compatibilities compounded it, but Californians paid a lot more for electricity than they should have. Net result, Californians recalled the Governor. Maryland residents enjoyed 6 years of low rates, artificially established, and then saw their rates jump. There could have been some savings even under this system, had BGE/Constellation not been required to purchase fuel at a time when natural gas prices were at there highest.
Using phone rates to demonize privatization is not a good example. As a result of deregulation, competition and innovation, consumers have been provided with numerous options. There are land line services, cell phone services, computer/Internet services. Any consumer need only to evaluate the services available to save money. Deregulation encourage both competition and innovation, which reduces cost and still provides good service to consumers and allows private companies to profit.
Finally, even though utilities have been deregulated, rates are still subject to approval by jurisdictional regulating bodies.
Joan,
I thought the Tea Party was against government regulation. You are proposing and accepting one of the most aggressive forms of government regulation. Also, BGE’s maintenance and operations of Maryland’s electric and natural gas delivery has never been bid out so there is no competition, even though it is a private entity.
JOAN,
How little you remember ATT was a long distance provider and was private. Local phone was carried by local govt. when we deregulated it and split the BELL’s to prepare for it and they became verizon then phone bills went up a ton. BGE was a non-profit public utility like SMECO and PEPCO etc. it was deregulated and became a supplier and was given the distribution system! Everyone said wait the competiotion will come and prices will go down. Little competiotion has come and they don’t compete they all jack up rates. Sorry foolled me before. Water and sewer should remain public. Private sector simply likes to rape the citizens to turn a profit. Nothing wrong with making money but to make money by holding people hostage with something they put there in the first place is wrong. Even if you only start to measure the rate increase from after the first rate jack up it is still a 500% rate hike. Explain to me how that is when gas and inflation are not that high. Want to see another example of public rape by privitized and deregulated utilities….look at ENRON and California!
John,
My point is exactly what you demonstrated. The success of privitizing utilities is incumbent on the legislation. Correct? If that is the case and in three instances govt has failed to craft successful legislation then what the hell makes you think they will get it right now. The old adage if it ain’t borke….don’t fix it comes to mind. Water and sewer in harford county is far cheaper then the private water and sewer in parts of PA across the border. 500% cheaper in fact. So why would I want to pay more for bad service and to make a profit for a company that does not care about the consumer! BGE, PGE, PEPCO, SMECO etc. service has gotten worse since privatization. They simply don’t care anymore it is all about a profit and not about service.
To CDEV,
Regarding your comment about the lack of competition in Maryland even after deregulation:
Consider the possibility that the political environment in Maryland is not a fertile field for the growth of new businesses, especially in the utility industries.
For example: Governor O’Malley’s desire to MANDATE the multi-decade purchase of offshore wind energy for all Maryland utilities.
“Maryland Senate Finance Chairman Thomas “Mac” Middleton, D-Charles, said locking utilities into fixed prices for decades could keep them from getting better rates later, when wind energy becomes cheaper and more abundant.”
(http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/09/978997/md-governor-readies-offshore-wind.html#ixzz1Dq7DgTNM)
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it
your water bill does not pay the true cost of you getting water. If that was the case, the county would not have to get bonds to finance water treatment plants. This public service is provided for the good of the community and business that rely on water for manufacturing and the public for public/private use. Its cost is divided amongs users and the rest through fees and taxes.
Folks, there is no free lunch…..we all have to pay for things we want our community to have even if I don’t really use parks & recreation, last year 89,000 unique visitors used those facilities for their personal enjoyment and enrichment of their quality of life.
Very good points. The issue is not solely whether we as a community must pay for those services and functions that we want. Sometimes it is a matter of prioritizing those items to maximize the use of funds available. It is as much a matter as how best to provide the functions and services, and how much to pay for them, as it is whether they should be provided. Before selecting the manner to accomplish all of this, all of the tools available should be examined, and the best tool, or combination of tools should be selected. Selecting the This is the way it has always been done and this is the only way to do it, this is the way we will do it, and therefore this is the best answer, may not be the best solution to the problems in the County.
Something has to be done or we are all in trouble!
“Folks, believe it or not, in these tough economic times.”
It is for the losers who do not have a job or cannot buget their income. For the 90 percent of us who are employed and can budget our money we want the county to provide needed services. We do not want to live in a third world county like the tea party losers.
We saw what happened when our state government got out of the electricity business.
What we saw when the government got out of regulating electricity was chaos, because government did not move far enough away, nor did it have a well thought plan to introduce competition. The State legislature pegged rates to a base year and held them constant for 6 years, creating an artificially low price,that did not reflect market conditions. The legislature dictated that utilities split production and management, and they dictated that utilities make purchasing decisions twice a year at specified times. The results were predictable. For six years there was no competition, as no competitors could enter the market. When the price controls were finally lifted, consumers were shocked to see that the market was not stagnant, and that because fuel was purchased at the time when there was a natural gas shortage, the cost of electricity increased dramatically. An additional factor is the cost to build power plants and the time required to obtain permits. Each of these pieces combined lead to an increase in electric prices that could not be stopped. Even had the State continued to regulate utilities, rates would have increased. The only debate is by how much.
“Something has to be done or we’re all in trouble” — Glad you have specifics. You should be a legislator with your ability to point out a problem but not offer a solution.
My question is this, last year Campaign for Liberty was claiming no more money from last year as a reason for using the constant yield tax rate, and now that this number isn’t favorable to them, they want to ignore it. Why is that? It strikes me as hypocritical that the group wants to follow the constant yield tax rate when it is going down, but not when it is going up. Consistency in argument is important. Just because government didn’t listen to them last year, doesn’t mean that their argument was wrong. And by jumping on the reverse side of the issue, they are showing that they have no intellectual honesty in their midst.
Had the constant yield been applied when property values were rising, the County budget would not have grown to ever increasing levels. Since it was not applied, spending levels increased, and now when property values and property tax revenues are dropping there will be a shortage of money. This problem could have been avoided when the Constant Yield Rate was well below the current level. In short, the County is looking at revenues that may be as low as those of 2008. Had the constant yield been applied then, there would probably not be any shortage today.
But the crux of the argument that the Campaign for Liberty used last year was that the county was collecting the same amount of money from taxpayers by using the constant yield rate. In that case the rate was lower. Now in order to get the same amount of money from taxpayers, due to the constant yield, the county would have to use a higher rate. Last year C4L wanted the county to follow the Constant Yield Rate, this year it does not. How is that not hypocritical when it still meets the demand that county taxpayers pay no more or less than they did the year before?
Just watch the county council on TV and you’ll see a need for somebody to keep the heat on county government. Every chance the council gets they are raising fees or mandating new laws which are driving up home ownership costs. (trash fees up, mandated sprinklers, just 2 examples )
Meanwhile Bonniface is a yes man to CE Craig, introducing legislation that often will benefit Craig’s lifelong buddy developer Clark Turner. Jim McMahon seems also to be just a lap dog for Bonniface. So somebody needs to keep an eye on these public “servants”
“Be it a highwayman who confronts a traveler with the ultimatum:’your money or your life,’ or a politician who confronts a country with the ultimatum:’Your children’s education or your life,’ the meaning of that ultimatum is: ‘Your mind or your life’-and neither is possible to man without the other.” Atlas Shrugged By Ayn Rand 1959
Privatize Parks and Rec! Good Idea! I think you guys should run with that one! Make that your slogan! I hope that every elected official associated with The Campaign for Liberty starts fighting real hard to privatize Parks and Rec! Do it! Do it!
Fogdog,
You make little sense. The costs associated with life in any terms are rising. The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the car and gas you use and the home that you live in all have costs and those costs have increased by more than salaries have this year from last year.
The increased MD sales tax, the increase Federal Income taxes, the increased medical expenses through ‘Obama-care’ are impacting all Americans.
Perhaps you ought to provide some insight for those of us “losers” in the 90% that are employed and do manage our budgets on the most appropriate way to ensure our elected officials are prudent w/ our money.
It appears that the C4L group has some valid concerns and I applaud them for their work in sharing the information w/ all taxpayers.
I understand that the 2011 budget is approved and we are in that year. Also The County Executive has asked all department heads to withold 3%. My questions is will the County use the Constant Yield to increase the property tax rate to boost Property Tax Revenue in 2012?
Ridiculous. So the tea party’s big cost savings proposal is to make me pay admission to a for-profit corporation in order to allow my kids to play at a park. At least my taxes didn’t go up. Idiot.
Your taxes have gone up every year as a result of the County ignoring the Constant Yield Rate to fund its operation. In the past the tax increases were automatic and the County could say that the increase was due to State property assessment process. This year, the County may well have to increase the property tax rate, by positive vote, to get the money needed for operation. The only hope is that the County Administration and County Council will recognize the need for fiscal responsibility and say no.
If the property taxes have gone up due to the increased state prop. assessments, the county could say that the increase was due to the higher assessments. With a 30% decrease in prop. values, shouldn’t prop. taxes here decrease, in Harford county, decrease, too?
Constant yield changes. As Govt. taxes and spends more it needs more money and Constant yield rate grows.
The other option, as I see it, is to cut costs. Ways to address this could include putting new capital projects on hold, and two primary areas that could wait are the Rec Center in Darlington and the new library for Churchville. I believe both can wait.
Where else can costs be cut?
Sir/Madam- Anon,
Harford Govt. is spending and/or over spending our tax money. That is a fact. Is that a good thing?
The Campaign for Liberty,the Americans for Prosperity and other Harford county residents are paying attention so that as taxpayers we get the most for our money.
We are offering alternate solutions. If you have other ideas, share them, too.
As to your comment on paying admission to a for profit corporation, what are you talking about…the ideas of fees for parks and rec are not new. Participants pay for the classes that they take, kids pay for soccer, baseball, swimming, et al, and they needs are not being sacrificed, but costs are incurred by participants and these costs need to be funded.
Ideas offered by smarter folks than I am include the cost cutting solution of having grant recipients, or criminals at the detention center be street cleaners, park cleaner-uppers, or even landscapers. The board of ed can use groundskeeping as in-school suspension. The benefit to the county and to the detainees are obvious.(learning job skills,and clean areas) Habitat for Humanity uses help from the detention center, so it is an option.
I’d love to know what elected officials or candidates have aligned themselves with the Campaign for Liberty. Anybody know?
Dave Craig and his good ole boys on the counsel have no problem spending our money. Dave Craig has done nothing to rein in the Board of Education because Dave Craig is a part of that beauracracy as well. All Dave Craig knows is Government and the Board of Education. He has no Business Experience and it shows in his lack of County Leadership and Management.
Perhaps the Dagger should do an investigation of how many County employees are on Craig’s campaign committee.
Rotten government. Buys up a farm. Puts in some ball fields. Provides a place for a playground named in honor of a little girl who died too young. Nowadays that place is mobbed with moms and dads and kids every halfway pleasant day. Who knows how many of them are illegal aliens. Freedom fighters unite! Charge admission to Annies playground! Why should those brats get a free ride?
The county administration, is talking about building a large convention center here in HC. It speaks about the new facility as a critical need for the citizens of HC.
A few weeks ago, the bldg. for the county admin. offices was deemed un-safe. A few months before that, new schools, new parks and rec facilities, a new agricultural bldg., and a new advanced degree facility were the priorities. I heard this week that the library wants to build a new branch in Churchville,at the rec center there, the Darlington area ‘needs’ a new recreation center, and now, we need to address the need to build a new John Archer school, a new Bel Air Middle school and demolish Homestead-Wakefield Elem. Can we think this through first?
In addition, the county wants to develop major communication technology avenues for the whole county. The system is meant to allow citizen input for all the areas of the govt. Why do we need the county govt. in this business? The phones, the cable companies, they are all here now. Do we want to create another electric/gas monopoly w/ communications? Will this be a new way for the county to be “big daddy” in all our lives? I don’t know, but it is something to consider.
Before any of this happens, lets think out loud and decide what it is we, Harford county, want to pay to have. The Presby. Homes, Villages at Carsin Run want not to pay prop. taxes. Well, neither do I. If they don’t have to pay property taxes, then neither should I. How long do you think I’d be able to live in my house w/t paying my property taxes?
The hotel room tax is up again. I am opposed to it for several reasons. The money will not be charged to Harford county residents. Allegedly, it will go to tourism w/n the county. It will go to maintain the Ripken Stadium. If the original contract for the stadium is so bad, why would anyone believe that the new maintenance plans would be better?
If the hotel tax is needed by the county and the local cities, what will be the next thing to be taxed? Individual apts., townhouses, condos.? The nursing homes or assisted living residences? The residents of Harford county need to receive assurances about the new taxes, and who, what and why they are needed. If it was so important, what has taken so long to make clear what and where it will be used for and when it will stop. If it is a short term tax, or permanent?
These questions will help citizens make an informed choice. Why isn’t the stadium able to maintain itself? It is an expensive place to attend games, and from what I have heard, to rent as an event site it is costly and not easily obtained. If this were a private facility, it would not receive the added funds, so why is it special?
Please take the time to find out if any or all of what I have said is fact.
I got an idea, why don’t we just eliminate govt altogether and create a harford llc that will charge us the true cost of providing water, sewer, schooling, police, emergency services, legal, detention, snow removal, planning and zoning, inspections, and parks so that we no longer have to pay a tax, but pay a user fee everytime a taxpayer or a community needs anything. The problem is though that any such company would in effect become a monopoly and would provide only those services that are profitable to them at the lowest cost. That’s mainly the reason that govt tends to do those thankless jobs that private enterprise does not really want to do because they are cumbersome, take labor and investment and the profits from such enterprise would be less than desirable when you have to actually provide these services on demand such during snow storms, accidents, state laws and mandates….you get the point.
I don’t want to minimize the role of private business in helping run some areas such as water and sewer which the county executive would like to see or the establishment of more charter schools, but the function of govt is to provide for the general welfare, safety and rule of law in the community and I haven’t seen a “county llc” anywhere be able to provide comprehensive services on demand to the population being that some customers do not want to buy into it and others would think that the service should be available always for a lower cost.
Some functions and services of the gov’t ought not be privatized. Many of the functions w/n the gov’t can and should utilize private businesses to supplement their effectiveness.
Privatization is one tool that ought to be used when it provides the best answer to the problem. One example of this is the snow removal from the snow storms last year and this year, too. The county didn’t have the resources to address all of the snow problems and the private sector helped. I hope they made a profit, they did a good job. Without their help, some areas might still be waiting for snow removal.
If citizens were able to work and the govt got out of the way, the jobs you describe would get done and in a cost effective way. Look at the gutter companies, the landscaping cos., masons, sewer/plumbing, the farmers and the road crews. These jobs are labor intensive and when given the chance, grabbed up by those willing to work. The problems come from govt. regulators/and interventions that put so many restrictions on the cos. that it becomes a tangles web of paperwork/legislation.
The members of these TEA party groups may be educated but they are clearly not educated in finance or government. While it is true that citizens should pay close attention to how the government budgets money, they can’t expect the government to cut expenses the way a homeowner does during tough economic times. Unfortunately, when the economy is bad the citizens’ expectations of their government are INCREASED. The number of people on unemployment and the average duration of unemployment increases during tough times. The crime rate also increases during tough times, which leads to a variety of financial burdens on the government beginning with the obvious law enforcement cost and trickling out to other areas. The fact that the TEA party movement is primarily an on-line campaign shows that they never considered saving the 70$/month for high speed internet a possibility, they would rather ask the government to provide MORE services to them with LESS funding. There are actually some intelligent comments being made here on ways to cut costs in government, but those people would never be associated with the TEA party radicals.
King,
I see your point in your post. My question is, if gov’t financial responsibilities INCREASE in tough times (specifically referencing your examples), then is it fair to say that their responsibilities should DECREASE in good times? If so, then shouldn’t the gov’t take advantage of the sunny days and build up a reserve to help cover the rainy days?
How dare you introduce reason and common sense into this discussion!!
Yes they have a rainy day fund which I believe has yet to be tapped!
To King of Common Sense
The goal of the effort of the Tea Party is to get Good Governance, Effective Government, Efficient Operations. Homeowners and business owners know that a budget reflects a prioritization of available money distributed against living or business expenses. If either entity determines that the single most important priority is a new large screen TV and that all available funds should be dedicated to that expense, than other expenses will not be funded, and the consequences would be predictable. Both the Homeowner and business owner understand that when funds available do not match expenses some expenses will not be funded or will be underfunded. In both cases the Homeowner and business owner understand that they must not only balance their budgets, but must also have balance in their budgets. They allocate funds to obtain the most effective benefit. They seek ways to get the most efficient use of the funds. Can government do the same? Yes. By prioritizing requirements, by seeking the most effective solution and the most efficient operation, and at times by eliminating expenses. Consolidating like functions to provide the same services is one idea that may lead to an effective use of resources and an efficient operation. Doing business the same old won’t way not work anymore. Turning to taxpayers to fund ineffective and inefficient operations is not acceptable. Dismissing efforts to improve the situation and marginalizing those who seek better methods discourages innovation and doesn’t lead to the future.
The last thing we need is to switch to private sector companies to provide large municipalities with water, sewer, etc…. Unfortunately, private sector companies operate on a profit basis, thus they would find ways to cut their costs to improve profits, raise rates and deliver a service that is at best on par with what you had before privatization, all without accountability. Certain services should remain operated by your local, county, state government. S$#t, we can’t even get developers to agree to pay for needed road improvements, water/sewer, or other such matters when they build homes/commercial buildings and overburden our public works. This won’t work.
a. Private companies that operate public utilities are regulated by the jurisdictions they support. They do not have the authority to arbitrarily change their fee structure, or the level of service. Yes, they do make a profit, but that profit is limited by the service schedule and fee structure dictated to them by the governing jurisdiction. Privatizing is no different than the current system in Harford County. The increase in Tipping Fees, that may reduce the transfer of general fund dollars to the Solid Wast Disposal fund, but will not eliminate them, is the most recent example. The County Executive proposed the change, the County Council approved. The missing piece to this action was the availability of the assumptions, numbers and projections used to demonstrate that this was worthwhile.
b. Any savings that would accrue would be dependent on the structure of the contract between the private company and the jurisdiction. If the jurisdiction does not structure the contract appropriately, then there could be no savings, and perhaps even a reduction in levels of service. Two examples are the Ripken Stadium and the Waste to Energy Plant. The city of Aberdeen structured the Ripken Stadium deal and it may not now be as profitable as they would have liked. They are now seeking a Hotel Tax to supplement revenues and support Ripken Stadium. Likewise the Waste to Energy plant Revenues from the sale of steam to Aberdeen Proving Ground have been reduced by contract, but neither the cost to produce the steam nor the quantity has. The increase in tipping fees is required to reduce the transfer of funds from the General Fund to the Solid Waste disposal function. Could the County have done better with privatization, perhaps. It depends on the business sense of the government.
c. In most cases developers have and do pay for the infrastructure that they place in their developments. They do pay for the for roads in their developments. They do pay to improve intersections and roads, as required by the County Code, on those that they impact. These costs are part of the purchase of the house. The home buyer ultimately pays for these improvement. The exception is the BeechtreeEstates with the Tax Incentive Financing that diverts property tax revenue derived from houses in the development, from the general fund to pay for the improvements in and around the development. Suggesting that developers pay for all roads in need of improvement is a bit extreme. A better recommendation would be to reduce government expenditures, and increase revenue with a fair tax for all residents and business, not just some, and to use tax revenues to improve roads.
John,
Interesting. We have all seen developers who fail to properly complete the infrastructure upgrades in the developments they create. As you know, the only incentive developers have to complete the promised improvements is via a bond that the county holds, which usually is not that large a sum. The Developer’s goal is profit, which means sell the houses first, worry about completing everything else later. Sometimes, developers get away with leaving the roads in barely passable condition, without lighting, and other inadequacies. After calling the appropriate County offices, they have no mechanism in place to fine the developer by reducing his bond or by holding up other projects he has, if he fails to complete the tasks by a certain time line. How can this be? Developers with bonds still open on projects are technically responsible for snow clearing, so don’t expect the county or other municipality to step up. Good luck getting developer to do something in a 1′ or deeper snow storm. This is where the local government fails to place “teeth” into their rules.
The “Tax incentive financing” project you speak of @ Beech Tree is going to come back and haunt Harford County. There is no excuse anymore for these sweatheart deals that are given to Developers. Does anyone really need such a large scale development off of route 7 when we all know the roads leading there are terribly inadequate? Route 7 is a winding country road at that point – so are all the other roads that border Beech Tree. The City/County will overspend on completing this mess when the Developer screws up…maintenance costs alone will be a huge drain on the county in years to come.
My prediction is that the developers will overload the Beech Tree project with cheap housing and the schools will also be overcrowded. How many townhomes are scheduled to be built? I bet that the numbers change before the project is completed…the developer will cry that the economy sucks and wants to put in a denser development…look at what happened to Bulle Rock. Townhouses are cheaper, thus more people can buy them during periods of fiscal austerity. The developer cries that he can’t sell big $ houses, gets approval to modify the project due to economic concerns. Developer sells off his inventory faster, makes his profit and can move on and out. Basic economics. Then the county has far more cars on the road than their roads can handle.
Instead of allowing these minor league developers to wax poetic and extole the virtues of a large planned community where such is really not needed, the county should create an incentive for developers to rehab some of the crappy areas of downtown Aberdeen, such as Baldwin Manor, or the other run down apartments that are within walking distance to the train station? What about incentives to purchase and rehab that crappy public housing in Perrwood? There are way too many unsold homes in Harford to create a vast new development.
I’d also like to see developers and some of the local mortgage lenders contribute heavily to Habitat for Humanity or offer some other low income housing project where people can actually BUY the homes at super low interest mortgage rates instead of having another government give away where no one gives a damn about what happens.
Thanks.
The Freedom Fighters of Harford County should show their dedication to the citizens and lead by example. Perhaps they can muster a formation of their dedicated followers, combined with a select cadre of non-violent inmates from the Harford County Detention Center, and start by cleaning up all the main county roads every other Saturday. Once they show us they mean business, perhaps they can start by offering their services to assist with building any new public works project such as schools, rec centers, libraries, etc… The FFoHC and the non-violent inmates would reduce all construction costs by offering free labor to the private sector. What a savings for the taxpayer and a terrific way for the FFoHC to gain a solid rep!
The Constitution of the United States provides power to the congress to levy taxes to establish post offices and post roads. It does not state the level of service required. Every time the USPS determines that more money is required, the Post Master General mentions the need to cut services. Interesting to note that USPS uses private sector to transport mail to the faraway places. Many of the middle of nowehere branches of the USPS are operated by personnel on a part time basis. USPS is currently attempting to reduce costs by eliminating some branches. Could FEDEX or UPS or some other private entity provide a defined service for less? Maybe, but they will not compete effectively with a government monopoly that is supported by tax dollars. They will be limited to moving mail what could be an inefficient contract with the USPS.
If a private company like Fedex took over postal responsibilities the people of Olatha, Kansas and other like places would not recieve any mail!
Harford County has multiple fund balances to support operations. There is/was a fund balance from recordation tax revenue, transfer tax revenue, general fund revenue, solid waste disposal fund balance and many more. Some of the fund balances are for special purposes, others used to support operations. Interesting to note that fund balances were still strong at the end of 2010 as noted in the most recent audit. The 2011 budget may have depleted these balances, or significantly reduced them so that they will not be of use in the 2012 budget.
ENRON and California present a special case for deregulation of the electric industry. California made a serious mistake in the structure of deregulation. They did not allow for futures contracts. When demand exceeded supply, utilities were required to make purchases on the spot market. There is evidence that ENRON manipulated the situation. The situation was exacerbated by gird incompatibilities and the distaste that neighboring states harbor for California, which resulted in the inability to get sufficient power at lower costs.
Most observers and Californians called the governor at the time inept. He was recalled in a special election. Most observers and the judicial system called ENRON officials criminals and some went to jail and are still there. The point here is not that deregulation is faulty, but that if governments fail to structure it properly, then there won’t be a great benefit. Neither regulation nor deregulation will stop the misdeeds of people. We call those people criminals and put them in jails when there misdeeds warrant.
So if the govt has yet to structure deregulation correctly yet why should I think they could do it right this time?
AT&T is synonomous with the telephone conglomerate that included Bell Telephone, Bell Labs and Western Electric. As a far reaching monopoly, it dominated all parts of telephone communications. It limited peoples choices. Consumers had to use Western Electric phones, and had to pay a monthly fee to use the phone.
The question is did de-regulation help the communication industry?
I’d say yes. In one of the first steps to deregulation, people could use phones other than those made by Western Electric. Princess phones, cell phones, inter-office intercom phones, phones in any size, shape, weight or color ( think Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone), became possible and available to all. Western Electric had the technical ability to compete but chose not to participate in the new adventures. It is possible that all of the new communication methods we have today would exist, but I doubt it.
Are we getting better service and lower costs than under the monopoly? I would say a big solid YES.
Most consumers in Harford County think of BGE when discussing electricity. They do not associate the name Constellation energy with the power that they provide. That might be by design, more than by accident, as the BGE brand is more favorable and powerful.
BGE has always been a profit driven corporation. Like most utilities their stock price were stable, not rising or falling much outside a given range. The reward in owning utility stock was the reliability of the dividend they paid from the profits they made.
Regulation limited the amount of profit and what could be done with it. Deregulation did not cause the rate increase in electric rates. That was more a function of the price of fuel.
Has competition introduced the potential for savings? Yes, it has. There are multiple providers who will supply energy for less than BGE. In fact, individuals can form there own co-op to provide energy at a price. Another benefit afforded by deregulation is the opportunity to purchase energy from other grids, transmit it to another area, and distribute it to consumers. Without this feature, there could not be any discussion of wind power or solar power.
Does anybody know if the rumor is true that Harford County loses millions of dollars a year on the contract where we provide steam to the federal government? If so can that contract be renegotiated?
CDEV
There you go, stereotyping business as uncaring profit mongers. Very Clever, though, your misspelling of broke to borke, and bork to borke to hide your intentions to BORK the thoughts of those who seek real solutions to problems facing Harford County.
Governments routinely fail in providing services and functions. If the residents and citizens continue to tolerate those failures who is ultimately to blame, particularly in this County?
The issue related to the cost of water and sewer in a neighboring state, where they have been privatized, cannot be effectively analyzed without knowing all of the facts. Does anyone honestly believe that the local government or its citizens would choose to be afflicted with a situation as bad as this if there were other options? If the situation were as bad as portrayed, then surely the residents who were served would demand better treatment, or demand that government take back the function. What would it cost if government were to provide the same services? Alternatively, perhaps the private situation is the best the municipality could offer.
Stereotyping business as uncaring profit mongers and government as the source of all that is good is a bit disingenuous, particularly when considering the example of Harrisburg, PA. The city government determined to build a waste to energy plant, and as a result of their good intended ineptitude, they pay debt service of just $3 Million dollars less than their total budget. They have missed debt payments, and at one time were considering bankruptcy. Not a good situation to be in. I believe that what we should all strive for is good governance, effective government, and efficient operations. Not the status quo.
Sorry if I am simply observing that BGE, Constelation Energy, ENRON, PGE, and many other private companies do not seem to care about the customers. It is simply noting factual examples. If I had a choice I would get my electricity supplied by someone who cared and fixed the supply problems in a timely manner but I do not. Constelation Energy seems to have a monopoly on the very lines the public paid for! They can’t fix them in a timely fashion. Govt. provided water and sewer seems to work just fine and is far cheaper then private water and sewer would be so I say we stick with what works.
One of the issues near and dear to me is the Edgewood incenerater project. Ive mentioned it to Mayor Dougherty and hes promisd to put a bug in the powers that be’s ears. The incenerater is an oppertunity to raise cash for the county. The right deal could be a substantial windfall for the county, Edgewood, and all of us if handled as is possible. By capitolizing on our proximity to NYC, thier trash problems, and increasing electricity costs via a good deal with this incinerater we could both cut our dollar expense per ton for trash disposal and cost for power.
The best deal is a tough deal…and we could do it if we had the desire.
GO DAGGER !!!!!!
Where do you live? Would all of this extra traffic and resulting pollution have a direct impact on your quality of life? The last thing Harford Co. needs is to become a dumping ground for East coast trash. If this was such a good idea they would build a similar plant in N.Y. or N.J.
Well J…there is no such thing as a free lunch…but if it makes you feel better…a few trucks a day…is nothing compared to the 2 hours a day we already tolorate with the base traffic both in Abeerdeen and Edgewood….and In HDG where rt 40 clogs for a solid hour in the am and pm with Penna license plates..
Go Dagger !
And PS….ever wonder whats on all those trains?
Go Dagger !
Often check your current computer’s complete system. I prefer to perform tests immediately since they decelerate your personal machine and may acquire a short time. If perhaps part of your computer system definitely seems to be afflicted, you can scan your imagine element simply. If you’re using a free software, make certain the idea removes the malware it has discovered. Some free plans may discover the threats but require you to choose the enter in get for it to get rid of chlamydia. I think those plans should be wiped along with changed by simply programs which have complete operation.