In the General Assembly this week, the Senate has introduced 15 new bills for a total of 992 and the House added 36 new bills for a total of 1465.  Because the technical deadline for introduction passed a couple weeks ago, there were not that many new ones.  The trick now is getting all of them scheduled for a hearing, and some will not be heard at all.  MACo’s Legislative Committee considered 21 new bills this week.  But this week I am focusing on just one, our #1 initiative, restoration of Highway User Revenues (HUR).

There are three separate bills that address HUR and a fourth that addresses provisions for use of unanticipated ARPA federal funds.  There are four opportunities to get this done and differences in each proposal.  To remind you of the history of our transportation funding problem, back during the recession in 2009, there was a major decline in revenues and the State cut local funding by 90%.  The split used to be 70% to the State and 30% to the local governments, including the 23 counties (15.3%), Baltimore City (12.1%), and municipal governments (2.6%).  

It took nearly ten years, but the locals finally got a partial and temporary fix in 2018.  However, the county share only increased from 1.5% to 3.2%, which is nowhere near what we used to receive from the State.  Additionally, the increase was only for five years and is set to expire in 2024.  Remember these are your gas tax dollars that everyone in each county must pay at the pump.  It is proper for those dollars to be returned to the locals where we must repair and maintain thousands of miles of roadways.  This is our “vehicle” to pay for it.

The first bill HB410 / SB400 was introduced by the Administration.  It has good intentions and does recognize that by removing the sunset provision, we would not end up back to only 1.5%.  It makes the percentage permanent, but it is not restoration, which the local governments desperately are in need of.  It also requires reports of projects that we didn’t do.  Just because we didn’t receive the highway funds, doesn’t mean that we didn’t do the projects.  It just means that we had to use general revenue dollars from income and property taxes to pay for them.  It is much more appropriate to use gas tax money to pay for road projects.

The items required for the report are good ones to be aware of.  Showing actual costs and the current budget year expenses, along with identifying the specific projects that are eligible for use of these funds are all fine, but we already do this at the local level.  Showing a real number for the amount of funds diverted from the general fund to pay for them is a great idea and a useful tool for us to have, but to require the county to submit those reports to SHA, in order to receive our funds, is an extra layer that has never been required.  Local governments do a good job budgeting and prioritizing our projects and this seems an unnecessary step.

SB 946 – “Transportation – Highway User Revenues – Distribution” does reset the percentage higher than what is current, which is good, but counties would still only receive 10%.  Additionally, it disproportionately appropriates more to municipalities, who are already a lot closer to full restoration than we are.  The percentage still doesn’t make the counties whole and doesn’t get us back to the original 15.3%.  It would however, provide for some flexibility and we could use some of the funds for projects such as pedestrian walkways.  

HB1187 / SB726 – “Transportation – Highway User Revenues – Revenue and Distribution” is the MACo bill!  Restoring these revenues has been a priority almost every year since 2009 when the State severely cut the local share.  Specifically, County governments were cut to 1.5% and we are partially restored to 3.2%.  With this bill, the counties would finally be made whole and receive our previous share of 15.3%.

We have heard from leadership that it is difficult to commit to ongoing funding and that there are state road projects that wouldn’t get done.  But a road is a road is a road.  The citizens don’t know if it is a city road, a county road, a state road or a federal road, they just want it fixed.  All projects are important and the funds need to be divided equitably.  The current division is not, and the funds should never have been diverted back in 2009.  Yes, State revenues took a big hit in the economic downturn, but so did our county dollars!  This is about fairness and now it is time to fix it.  

HB 1322 – “Operating Budget – Consolidated Transportation Program and Unanticipated Federal Funds.”  This may actually be the main avenue to get full restoration of our Highway User Revenues.  As everyone is aware, during the past two years of Covid, there has been a large influx of federal dollars to help the economy in various ways.  There was the CARES Act and ARPA and there are guidelines for their use.  This bill provides the guardrails for use of the ARPA funds and requires the “Consolidated Transportation Program to include a reserve of $35 million for changes in revenue sources for each fiscal year included in the financial forecast.”

This would be a good place to “find” the revenues to help support restoring the funds to local government.  We are not asking for an additional percentage of money beyond what we used to receive.  This influx of unanticipated revenue for projects is a reasonable and appropriate use of these dollars.  

Hearings for all of these bills take place March 8 – 10 in the various committees.  All information is posted on the Maryland General Assembly (MGA) website.  Please consider lending your voice and testifying in person or writing a letter of support.  Please share this information, so that our elected officials understand the differences in these three bills.  All have a good intent and recognize the problem, but the MACo bill is the only one that fully restores us back to where we used to be.  

Let’s use roads money for roads projects and not divert general tax revenues.  Let’s keep them in place to support our schools, public safety and all the other general government services that we need to provide to you, our citizens. 

Laura Everngam-Price is President of the Executive Board of Directors of Maryland Association of Counties, former chair and current member of Budget and Tax, member of MACo’s Initiative subcommittee, Talbot’s legislative liaison and member of the Talbot County Council.

 

The Maryland Association of Counties Legislative Committee has continued to meet every week and review proposed legislation.  In the General Assembly, the Senate has introduced 977 bills and the House 1429 bills thus far.  The introductions are beginning to slow down, but MACo is playing catchup on all those bills.  We considered 49 new bills this week, the most so far.  With that, let me get to it and tell you about the most interesting ones of the week.

HB1259 / SB871, “Accessory Dwelling Unit Authorization and Promotion Act” would establish a policy requiring the “creation of accessory units on land zoned for single family residential, in order to meet the housing needs of the citizens of the State.” The bill states: “Each legislative body SHALL adopt a local law authorizing the development of accessory dwelling units on land zoned for single–family residential use” and “SHALL apply to all land in the local jurisdiction zoned for single–family residential use.”

Apparently, county zoning officials had a “collective stroke” when they read this bill.  Every county has its own zoning laws for a reason and we go through extensive procedures and public hearings to establish them.  We have our Comprehensive Plans and zone areas of the county differently for appropriate uses. Though the bill says it does not alter or repeal any zoning power or authority granted to a local jurisdiction,” that seems in direct conflict with its intent and use of the word “shall” throughout the bill.  Accessory dwellings are not appropriate in all areas and this bill would not allow the county to have any oversight into these important land use decisions.  Local autonomy should be very closely protected.  This is about the most egregious overstep from the State I’ve seen in years and it is what MACo will fight to protect.

HB979, “Tax Sales – Homeowner Protection Program Automatic Enrollment and Funding.”  This bill is an add on to a program that passed last year.  If someone is unable to pay their water or sewer bills, then the county typically uses the tax sale process to enforce the lien for unpaid charges, resulting in private tax sale of the property.  This bill is helpful for low-income citizens because the State comes in and pays the amount owed so it doesn’t go into tax sale and the County is made whole right away.  

Currently, qualified applicants have to apply for the Homeowner Protection Fund and this bill repeals the requirement that the department limit the maximum number of homeowners who may be enrolled and would automatically add these citizens.  The language states “the Department shall pay the county or municipal corporation the full amount of the tax lien on the homeowner’s dwelling and assume exclusive responsibility for collecting the outstanding tax debt.”  This is all about enabling people to stay in their homes while not burdening the county with uncollected debt.  

SB760, “Property Tax Exemption – Religious Group – Third Party Leases.”  Counties grant property tax waivers to many types of non-profit organizations, including churches.  Sometimes that religious institution then leases it to a group that is not exempt.  This bill would change the property tax exemption if the land or building is leased to another party and the property tax would be payable.  We are more than happy to grant this allowance, but this is a problem in some areas, in particular, Baltimore City, where approximately 1/3 of their land is considered tax-exempt and no property taxes are being collected.  They, and other jurisdictions need the revenue to pay for municipal and county services.  Additionally, this bill is uniform across the State and does not leave it up to the local jurisdictions to determine the appropriateness of these requests.  

Are you sensing a theme to so many of the bills this year, and for that matter, every year?  There are different levels of Government for a reason.  Programs that are best run and decided upon by either the Federal, State or Local governments.  At the local level, you elected us because we are closest to the people, closest to the land and closest to the revenue needs that enable us to provide the necessary services to you, our citizens who are paying the taxes.

MACo is busy testifying every day, along with many of our elected officials on the issues that are so important to all of you.  Bills are starting to move out of their committees and some legislation has made it onto the full floor of either the Senate or the House for them to take their votes.  My future reports will start to focus on what has moved forward, what has been amended, along with what has “died” for this year.  I’m optimistic because MACo’s four legislative initiatives are moving in a positive direction right now and I look forward to providing the updates on those as well.  Don’t forget to stay involved and lend your voice to the many issues that Annapolis is talking about.

Laura Everngam-Price is President of the Executive Board of Directors of Maryland Association of Counties, former chair and current member of Budget and Tax, member of MACo’s Initiative subcommittee, Talbot’s legislative liaison and member of the Talbot County Council.

 

The last day to beat the deadline for bill introduction for the Legislature was this past Friday.  There was a huge rush to get them all submitted without having to go through the “rules” committee if introduced late.  MACo’s policy staff continues to be hard at work reviewing them all. The Senate has now introduced 911 bills and the House 1386 bills; clearly the avalanche has continued!  Our Legislative Committee considered 41 new bills this week, which prompted engaging and thoughtful discussion amongst our membership.  As we always do, we listened to one another and the recommendations of our staff to come to agreements that are in the best interests of our counties and that we could all support.

HB677 “Homestead Property Tax Credit – Portability of Value to New Dwelling” is back again this year in a slightly different form.  You may wonder what is the homestead tax credit?  It was designed to help homeowners deal with assessment increases, making it more affordable to stay in your home.  But that home must be your principal place of residence and not a secondary home.  The law requires each county in the State to limit the annual increase to between 0% and 10%.  In Talbot County, our credit is set at zero, meaning even if your assessment goes up, you will see a line item on your bill with a credit in the exact amount of any assessment increase.

This bill proposes to make it transferable to another property with a credit of up to $25,000, if you sell and purchase a new dwelling within three years.  This completely defeats the purpose behind the original concept, which is to keep people in their current homes, so higher assessments don’t price them out.  

If we want to incentivize people to purchase a new property, we shouldn’t do it by hijacking the homestead credit.  A different type of tax credit should be considered.  As I mentioned last week, a county only has two main forms of revenue, income and property tax.  For the State to decide who does and does not qualify for tax incentives, which would have a negative impact on our local revenues, without county government input is highly problematic.

Another interesting bill that we considered was SB567, “Property Tax – Agricultural Use Assessment – Improvements.”  Most would agree that we want to support agriculture and retain as much of that beautiful land in farming related activities.  Those properties are taxed at a far lower real property rate of about ten cents.  Business personal property, such as equipment or structures, is a business owned asset, That tax is imposed and collected by the local government.  

Activities, such as wineries, breweries, and event venues have been added to farms, which absolutely does help make them sustainable.  We support that.  However, they are not necessarily using products that are grown on the land.  This bill is aiming to tax the business equipment or structures at the much lower agricultural property tax rate.  The machinery to make the wine or the structure to host the wedding are new activities.  This could create an incentive for a brewery, etc, to locate on agricultural land instead of a more urban area.  In order to keep the playing field level for all businesses, they should be taxed the same rate.

Here in Talbot County, I think about St. Michaels, which has a winery, a brewery and a distillery, all on the main street of town.  We also have wineries on some farms in the area.  Shouldn’t all of those businesses pay taxes on their equipment at the same rate?

Let’s talk about a few that are much easier to digest.  HB598 / SB540, “Higher Education Transfer Platform – Transfer with Success Act” would require each community college and four-year institution that receives State funds to make it easier to transfer credits. The platform would allow students and advisors to determine if a course will transfer from any community college to any 4–year institution and provide recommended courses for specific programs of study.  More and more of our high school graduates are trying to save money and are opting to start their college education closer to home and utilizing our wonderful community colleges.  This bill would help ensure the courses they take are well-chosen and transferrable, if and when they continue on to complete their 4-year degree.

Maybe the easiest bill to support all week was HB633, “Accountability and Implementation Board Membership.”  The topic of Kirwan is a big one and I wrote about it extensively in 2020.  (Feb 26 and March 9) It is the massive reform bill that increased education funding in the State of Maryland.  With that change, it did require an oversight board to make sure it would be properly implemented.  Unfortunately, membership was not representative of the whole state.  It had only 7 members and left out many rural areas and even one large jurisdiction.  This bill proposes expanding to 11 members.  One each must be from the Eastern Shore, Western Maryland and Southern Maryland.  Additionally, one member from each of the five most populous counties. This is a good bill and MACo was happy to lend its support 

On another note, a positive development in Annapolis, is that the Senate has decided to move to in-person committee hearings starting on Monday, February 14th.  This is good news, since having the legislators hear testimony face to face can be so much more effective than virtual.  

MACo will likely have another couple of weeks of bills to review and report on.  Then we will watch to see how each committee votes, see what amendments were made, and see which ones will move on to full votes in each respective house before crossing over.  We are in the thick of it, so please consider lending your voice to the testimony, as all of these bills will have an impact to each of our counties.

Laura Everngam-Price is President of the Executive Board of Directors of Maryland Association of Counties, former chair and current member of Budget and Tax, member of MACo’s Initiative subcommittee, Talbot’s legislative liaison and member of the Talbot County Council.

 

What an overwhelming amount of bills MACo’s dedicated policy staff reviewed this past week.  The race continues with the Senate having introduced 743 bills and the House 866 bills to date and the avalanche will continue for at least a few more weeks!  The staff reviewed hundreds before they managed to get it narrowed down for our Legislative Committee.  Out of those, we considered 40 bills just this week that would have a meaningful effect on counties.  Our work is still being done virtually, but the participation among the committee members is robust and discussions have been thought-provoking.  Hearing a different perspective from each county helps us come to a unified consensus that we can all agree with.

Every year there are always dozens of bills that would reduce certain taxes through a process called subtraction modifications.  “Sub-mod” bills lower or eliminate taxes for specific groups of people, like Retirees, Military, Veterans and Disabled, Union Members, EMS workers and many other specific types of people.  This issue is not about whether you favor or oppose tax reductions for these individuals, but the problem is the method with which these are proposed by the State. 

Counties only have two main revenue sources, income tax and property tax.  Local governments must pay for mandated education expenses, public safety, emergency services, county road maintenance and so much more.  There is very little flexibility in our budgets and if these revenues are severely reduced, we will not be able to cover these costs and provide much needed services here at home.

These “sub-mod” bills mandate that the taxes are reduced at the State and County level.  The testimony given from MACo states, “MACo stands for local self-determination.  Counties, led by locally elected leaders directly accountable within the communities they serve, are best positioned to govern local affairs – ranging from land use to fiscal matters. MACo steadfastly guards this local autonomy and consistently advocates against one-size-fits-all policies that override local decision-making.  MACo urges the Committee to primarily consider state income tax credits as the best means to incorporate local tax relief as part of a broader policy.” Approaching it this way would leave critical revenues in place for the county governments to serve our citizens.  

There are always bills introduced each year that would make school construction much more costly, even if the idea behind them is well intended like HB365 “Fossil Fuel Based Energy System Costs – Prohibition – Green School Construction Act.” The cost of a new or replacement system may NOT be considered a capital improvement cost and may NOT be paid by the State and eliminates ANY State funding contribution if a County builds a school that uses coal, natural gas or petroleum for its heating system.  This is a challenging question and many are looking for alternative energy sources to be more environmentally sensitive.  Here again, if the State is going to make a decision that adds to the County costs, then they should pay a larger share of it.  MACo will suggest an amendment that says just that.  Additionally, there needs to be a waiver requirement if, for example, solar or geo-thermal is not an option based on the geographic location of the building.  Unfunded mandates and “one size fits all” are always going to be issues that counties need to guard against.  

Along the same lines, SB259 “Procurement – Prevailing Wage” would expand the prevailing wage law beyond building construction to include ALL mechanical systems, HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing and electrical.  Under current law, the County must pay the State’s prevailing wage on any capital project (primarily school construction), where the State contributes just 25% of the cost.  This has been problematic because it does not adjust for regional cost of living differences where actual costs could be far less.  An example is the recent $50 million Easton Elementary school project.  If Talbot had been able to use a normal wage, more appropriate to a rural Eastern Shore County, where the cost of living is far less (and not based on a higher Montgomery or Prince Georges County wage rate), the project could have been about 20% less.  This new legislation will pile on to that law and make project costs even higher by a significant margin.  Every county would be obligated to pay these higher costs, regardless of market realities.  The bill, once again, usurps local authority and prescribes a one size fits all (read, one size fits none) approach over facilities management.

There are a couple of disease presumption bills that have been introduced.  HB439 / SB374 “Workers Compensation Occupational Disease Presumption for 9-1-1 Specialists” makes the assumption that if a worker is diagnosed with post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD) that they are presumed to have an occupational disease that was suffered during the course of employment.  SB10 “COVID-19 Occupational Disease Presumption” says that public safety employees and health care workers are assumed to have an occupational disease that is compensable under workers compensation and applies retroactively.  

To attribute a certain type of disease simply to where one works shouldn’t be an automatic assumption.  There are other aspects to one’s lifestyle that could account for these health issues and a reasonable method of determining the cause should be recognized and documented.  Employers need to be accountable, and are responsible for true workplace injuries.  This is the reason they pay into a workers compensation fund for each employee. 

On a more positive note, MACo wholeheartedly supports SB448 “Regional Resource Centers and Library funding.”  All Maryland counties are highly supportive and are already funding many times over the mandated levels.  This bill proposes to increase the State share so that there is additional funding of up to $20 per resident per year.  This will be a nice addition.  Libraries have become so much more than books and are essential resources in every community.  Computers are just one example and key to so many people that don’t have that critical access at home.

You may have a noticed a theme throughout this article, a “one-size” approach by the State.  The reason you elect local officials is because we know our own backyards, we are closer to our citizens and we understand our local economies.  The State has a very important role but so do the Counties.  Let us do the job we were elected to do and retain our autonomy.  As I look again at the nearly 100 bills and the broad range of topics the Legislative Committee has advocated for so far, the impact it would have to the counties and our citizens is enormous. 

Laura Price is President of the Executive Board of Directors of Maryland Association of Counties, former chair and current member of Budget and Tax, member of MACo’s Initiative subcommittee, Talbot’s legislative liaison and member of the Talbot County Council.

Annapolis is back in session and this means it is time again for the twenty-four counties in Maryland to be vigilant about understanding legislation that is introduced and the consequences, both good and bad, it may have on our citizens.  I am the current President of the Maryland Association of Counties and the Talbot County liaison to MACo.  I am serving my eighth year as representative on both the Legislative Committee and the Board of Directors.  I was chair of the committee last year and the former chair of the Budget and Tax sub-committee.

So, what is MACo?  We are the voice of every county in the State.  MACo watches for unfunded mandates and advocates to retain our local autonomy and decision-making authority while the General Assembly is in session.  We used to gather each Wednesday morning at the office in person, but given the current health circumstance, we have had to meet virtually the past two years and it’s just not the same.  However, the membership still recognizes that we have the same issues, no matter how big or small, rural or urban, Republican or Democrat.  The members in the “zoom-room” understand and agree on what is beneficial or potentially harmful when evaluating pieces of legislation and taking a position and we still leave our partisan “hats at the door.”  

The goal of the Legislative Committee is to guide positions on bills that have been introduced by the General Assembly and to advise each county’s representatives on relevant issues.  MACo’s staff provides insight into the effects of the proposed legislation on the counties.  We, the elected officials, serving as members discuss and agree on the positions to be advocated for in Annapolis, with each county receiving one vote.  This is critically important because the smaller, more rural jurisdictions have the same equal voice as one of the larger counties.

In addition to reviewing legislation each week, MACo has four Legislative Initiatives each year.  That subcommittee, of which I am a member, considered over fifty possibilities and narrowed that list down to four.

The first of MACo’s 2022 selections is “Restoring our Local Highway User Revenues and Transportation Infrastructure.” This has been a priority most years since the State severely cut 90% of our local share during recession-driven budgets over 10 years ago.  We got a partial and temporary fix in 2018, but still nowhere near what we used to receive from the State.  Last year, the 23 counties received approximately $56 million and the City of Baltimore received the remainder of the total amount of $200 million.  Counties used to receive $555 million per year!  Remember this is your gas tax money that you pay at the pump and it should go to fund the roads that the County has to maintain and repair and keep our residents safe.

Our second priority is “Protect Local Officials Against Threats and Intimidations.”  Under Maryland law, an elected official is provided protection and it is a crime for residents to threaten or intimidate them and impede their public responsibilities. But these protections are not extended to non-elected officials, such as health officers and election officials who are performing their job duties and oversight roles, and may suffer the same sort of potentially dangerous feedback from irate residents.  HB267 has been introduced and is similar to our initiative and also includes hospital staff members.  Whether the public agrees or disagrees with the decisions of these officials, they still deserve reasonable protection against being threatened with harm and pressured from carrying out their job duties.

Our third initiative is “Ensure Funding Fairness and County Role in Elections.”  This has been introduced this week as HB35 / SB 158.  In a county budget, this is the only “department’ where all the decisions are made at the State, but funded by the county of which we have no say.  The State Board of Elections makes unilateral decisions that place substantial burdens onto local Boards of Elections.  Without proper resources, these state-mandated expenditures represent significant unfunded mandates on county governments.  For 20 years, the split between the County and State has always been 50% each and MACo is advocating to codify that precedent and also ensure local input into major decisions that obligate our county funds.

Finally, our fourth priority is “Emergency Transport as a Realistic Recognition of Care.”  I was proud to testify this week on HB44, Maryland Medical Assistance Program Reimbursement.  Currently the reimbursement rate is only $100 for transport and only if the patient who calls 911 is actually transported to an Emergency Department.  HB44 would ensure that the State is reimbursing the critical functions of EMS at a fair and modernized rate which would gradually increase to $300.  It would allow for billing of treatment in the field, when transporting a patient is not necessary and it would also recognize that transport to an ER is not the only place a patient could go.  It would also allow for transport to other appropriate locations, such as an Urgent Care facility.  But because Medicaid does not acknowledge anything other than “transport to a hospital ER as care, the county EMS cannot bill the insurance companies for any of those other circumstances and we are not reimbursed for treatment at all. 

 From the testimony I gave this week… “I have always been extremely supportive of Emergency Services and have witnessed the treatment given to loved ones.  But until you experience it for yourself, you can’t fully appreciate just how knowledgeable our EMTs and Paramedics are.  This happened just last month when 911 was called for me.  I was in awe at how much medical care was given to stabilize me before we ever left the driveway.  Though I was transported to an ER, it is imperative that we have the capability to compensate these true health professionals for treatment in the field.  Under our current system, this doesn’t happen and that needs to change.”

In the past two weeks, our committee has reviewed more than 40 bills.  There were many major bills and several smaller ones, but all are important to consider and sometimes that smaller bill might have a very large unintended consequence.  I will write in more detail about them in future weeks and many other pieces of legislation we will consider as they get introduced.  But for this first article of 2022, I wanted to give an overview of the process, review MACo’s initiatives and remind everyone how important the county viewpoint can and must be, in influencing policy in Annapolis.  

Laura Price is President of the Executive Board of Directors of MACo, former chair and current member of Budget and Tax, member of MACo’s Initiative subcommittee, Talbot’s legislative liaison and member of the Talbot County Council.