From Harford County government:
In preparation for Harford County’s next budget, County Executive Barry Glassman plans a virtual town hall meeting on January 14 with multimedia options now available for citizens to communicate their priorities for the fiscal year 2017. This second annual event will be streamed live on the county website beginning at 6:00 p.m. from Harford Community College’s Darlington Hall.
“I understand how difficult it can be for busy citizens to come out to a public meeting,” said County Executive Glassman. “Through social media and other modern methods, our first-ever virtual town hall made it easier for everyone to participate in developing our current budget. For next year’s budget, citizens are once again invited to tell me what they care about; using whichever method is most convenient.”
Beginning immediately, citizens can provide budget comments via social media, email, or U.S. Mail. The county executive will review all incoming messages, some of which will be read aloud during the live event. Other options at the live event include public comments from attendees and calls to dedicated phone lines.
Contact information is as follows:
Email: iGovHarford@harfordcountymd.gov
Facebook: Harford County’s Virtual Town Hall
Twitter: @iGovHarford
Mailing address: Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, 220 S. Main St., Bel Air, Md., 21014
Call-in number: 443-412-2700 (activated only during the live event)
On January 14, citizens may also watch the live event from the county Web page www.harfordcountymd.gov/VirtualTownHall. New this year, the Web page will scroll some incoming social media, email, and phone messages.
The virtual town hall meeting will begin with a brief review of the budget process.
By law, the county executive proposes a budget each April to fund county operations and capital programs for the upcoming fiscal year that begins on the first of July. The county executive’s recommended budget, which is based on revenue projections, is subject to final approval by the Harford County Council.
Once the county executive sets operating funding levels, the council may not add funding to any area of the budget except for the public school system. If the council adds funding for the schools, it can only add up to the amount requested by the school board, and only by taking those funds from another area in the county budget, or by raising revenue.
The primary source of county revenue is local property and income taxes paid by county citizens.
In addition to the school system, several other outside agencies depend, fully or partially, on county funding for their operating and capital budgets. These agencies include the sheriff’s office, community college, public library and health department. It is important to note that once county funding for outside agencies is approved by the County Council, budgeting decisions within each agency are determined by that agency’s leadership, based on revenue from all sources.
For more information about the county budget, please visit http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/1531/Budget-and-Management-Research
Whatever they do with the budget. Don’t give deputies a pay step increase, they just had one eight years ago.
That was one too many.
Deputies are 24% behind on a very average (compared to other police agencies in the State) pay scale. To Whofa i hope you were just being sarcastic (I think you were). And Not A.T. you have got to be kidding me right?! You don’t want the county to pay for quality law enforcement in today’s day in age? WOW just WOW. Hopefully the county will FINALLY take care of the Deputies that risk their lives for you and me on a daily basis. Every person with half a brain knows that government entities should never skimp on infrastructure or law enforcement. Skimp on those and you end up direct straights. I’m sorry about the speeding tickets you have probably received but c’mon!!!
I am NOT a friend of the Sheriff’s Department as I believe they are harboring criminals that have committed felonies during the investigation and prosecution of cases. I also think that certain deputies of the Harford County Sheriff’s Department are completely unable to tell the truth about their illegal investigations and the criminal charges they have pursued. That being said, there is this thing called a cost of living wage increase and if its been 8 years since their last increase then they are overdue for a raise. The police are there to protect and serve. For the MOST part, I think that MOST deputies have the best interests of the public in their hearts. However, I urge Sheriff Gahler to dismiss those that he knows have committed felonious perjury in affidavits and applications in the courts of law, regardless if the courts in Harford County encourage it. Gahler, its your reputation and you have to live with it. GIVE THE DEPUTIES THEIR RAISES! MOST OF THEM DESERVE IT!
If those other agencies are paying so much more then why are some many transfering into Harford County. If the grass is greener then leave for those other counties and dont forget to give back the keys to your free commuter car..
Bill, the “free commuter car” is paid for by you and every deputy that lives here and pays taxes. Studies have shown that take home police car programs increase police presence and actually save tax payers money as opposed to “pool cars run around the clock” not to mention faster response times for every specialized unit that needs to get deployed from home. That aside I’m not going to be nasty or argue with you, it’s just we have heard that same rhetoric for years, “if you don’t like it leave, or if you think the grass is greener.” Truth be told each and every Deputy is blessed to have a job in trying economic times and this is an incredible county to work for. I’m just saying, stress, a reduced life expectancy, risking your life, etc, I think fair 2015 compensation is a reasonable request. I know most people in both the private sector and government would eventually like to be brought up to speed with regards to cost of living, etc. after 8 years. I hope I’m not sounding greedy I’m just trying to provide for my family like everyone else.
At this point, most of the officers transferring here are either younger officers from Baltimore City (can’t blame them…I’d go just about anywhere to get away from that hellhole) or have already had a full career and retired from another agency. I know several officers who transferred from Baltimore County several years ago who now really regret doing so.
If I transferred to Baltimore County now I’d get about a $20k pay raise and believe me, it’s very tempting and something I’m seriously considering. Hell, I could go to Cecil County and get a small pay raise (and still have a take home car) and their payscale is roughly $10k less/year than ours at my time of service. Pretty pathetic that Cecil is now paying veteran officers more than Harford County.
Most deputies aren’t looking for a COLA, new pay plan, etc. We just want the existing pay plan that the county agreed to and signed off on ~9 years ago to be honored. A 9 year deputy should not be making the same as a 2 year deputy which is currently the case. Don’t get me wrong, the HCSO is good agency to work for in most respects and we finally have a good sheriff, but there comes a point where the lack of pay starts heavily outweighing the benefits and for many of us that point is rapidly approaching if it’s not already here.
Soul crusher I guarantee is a piece of shit. Probably lays around all day feeling sorry for humself. Acts tough when in a crowd. But behind a keyboard is just a sad excuse for a human.
@ Whofa – Anytime you wanna find out, just drive to Baltimore and call me out. 1319 E. Patapsco Ave. Brooklyn, MD 21225, I’m not hard to find.
Well that explains a lot. Trolling folks in a county you don’t even live in. At least you have an appropriate moniker.
Well, I don’t really consider what I was doing “Trolling”. I was responding to “Whofa”, who attacked me. I do consider myself the “Truth” and we ALL know the “Truth” does NOT live or is not told in Harford County. So I will tell it from outside your corrupt bounds…..