From Harford County government:
Planning for Harford County government’s next budget, County Executive Barry Glassman will host a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, January 19, 2017 with multimedia options available now for citizens to share their priorities for the 2018 fiscal year. This third annual budget event will stream live on the county website beginning at 6:00 p.m. from Harford Community College’s Darlington Hall.
“Our virtual town hall meetings are an efficient and convenient way for citizens to tell me what they most care about for the upcoming budget year,” said County Executive Barry Glassman. “Attendees are always welcome at the live event, but thanks to social media and modern technology, participation is just a click away on a computer or smartphone. Citizens who are working, caring for children, or otherwise busy in the evening shouldn’t have to come to a meeting to participate in their local government.”
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. The live event will also include public comments from attendees and messages relayed from callers 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
Dedicated call-in number: 443-412-2700 (activated only during the live event)
On January 19, citizens may also watch the live event from the county Web page www.harfordcountymd.gov/VirtualTownHall. Again 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 July 1st. The county executive’s recommended budget, which is based on revenue projections, is then 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 of 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, in full or in part, 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.
Here’s one…pay all county employees properly or continue the the trend of not being able to fill vacancies and continue losing highly qualified people (especially teachers and deputies.)
As a prelude to the virtual town hall it would be very beneficial to have a better knowledge of the 2018 budget. I would request that the County Executive provide the following information:
1. What is the total revenue available for 2018?
2. How much additional revenue accrued to savings, revenue inc reases
3. What is the total amount of must fund expenditures?
4. Where can expenditures be cut and by how much
5. What are the County Executives priorities for allocating additional revenues?
It appears that County Employees will get a pay increases, maybe as high as 4 percent.
County Executive Glassman did state, albeit opaquely, that a new Havre de Grace High School would be in the 2018 budget.
Any other items that the County Executive will place in the budget.
6. How much is left for the citizens of Harford County to allocate according to their own priorities.
Would it be possible for the department responsible for posting this article on the Dagger to provide that information as a reply on the Dagger? The information would certainly facilitate a realistic conversation on where Harford County citizens would like to allocate funds. Without this information any comments would be wishful thinking.
THNX
JOHN P. MALLAMO