Chairman Moxley, members of the County Council, County Employees and Fellow Citizens, I am pleased to present to you Baltimore County's proposed budget for the 2005 Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2004.
This is a challenging time for government. Economic recovery has been slow, and the effects of leaner times linger. Deficits at the national level continue to grow, pushing an ever-bigger burden on the states. In Annapolis, State leaders were called upon to make difficult choices, and for the second year significant cuts have been passed on to local governments.
But Baltimore County will not be making cuts. We are fortunate to have a council with over 50 years of combined experience, and through their collaboration with the executive branch, this county has established a legacy of sound fiscal management, a legacy that continues with this administration.
The management and fiscal responsibility that is the hallmark of Baltimore County has allowed us to continue providing services that support our high quality of life, and to continue attracting new businesses and promoting even more opportunities for our residents. Baltimore County has seen 10 years of consistent job growth. We have maintained a triple-A bond rating that saves taxpayers millions and allows the county to fund important programs. With this 2005 budget, we will continue to govern responsibly.
Baltimore County is one of the most efficient and well-managed jurisdictions in the nation. We have not seen a property tax or income tax increase in a decade. Since 1991, we have added 80,000 new residents, but we have fewer general government employees than we did 14 years ago.
In times of calm and in times of crisis, county employees have responded with outstanding determination, and have achieved incredible results. When Hurricane Isabel struck, county employees in every department - from Police and Fire to Finance, Aging, the Health Department and Community Conservation - worked around the clock, rescuing citizens from flood waters, protecting homes, clearing roads and providing emergency food, shelter and other services.
Even before the Hurricane, our employees worked hard every day to make Baltimore County a better place to live and work. Our police department oversaw a 12 percent reduction in serious crime. The fire department added new emergency medical technicians, improved response and incident data collection, and opened a new career fire station. Our volunteer fire companies continued to deliver outstanding service to the public.
The Department of Public Works launched a successful program to calm traffic and manage congestion in our neighborhoods and set a record for neighborhood recycling. Under the direction of Tom Iler, the Office of Information Technology has made county government more open and transparent, and they continue to use new technology creatively and effectively to offer citizens easy and ready access to Baltimore County.
We have increased minority representation throughout county government, from boards and commissions to Emergency Medical Technicians, and we are moving toward a workforce that better represents Baltimore County's population.
In every department, our employees adapted and improved the quality of our government and our county. With fewer resources available, we made important strides.
With our budget last year, we committed to the renaissance of Baltimore County. We added new teachers, opened a Juvenile Drug Court and expanded it to serve more of the county, began an extensive renovation of the Hannah More facility in Reisterstown, passed the half-way mark in our goal to preserve 80,000 acres of open space and increased funding for programs to renew our beltway communities. We are at a critical point in that renaissance. We must make the decision to nurture the programs already in place.
Our ongoing expenditures will increase just three percent this year, but police officers, fire fighters, teachers, library employees and all other county employees will see pay raises this year. We will hold the line on income tax and property tax rates and expand our capital budget.
This year's budget is not one of many new initiatives. It is a budget focused on reinvesting in our infrastructure, building on our strengths and investing in human capital, the people who make Baltimore County work.
The renaissance of Baltimore County begins with the education of our young people. Providing the best education possible is the key to sustained economic growth, successful citizens and safer neighborhoods.
We must make sure that our students have the facilities, and most importantly the teachers, they need for a positive and productive future. Attracting highly qualified teachers, and keeping them in Baltimore County classrooms is a top priority, so this budget includes a proposal to increase teacher salaries an average of four percent in the next year and we will raise other salaries throughout the education system. These cost of living increases are in addition to step and longevity raises, which already total over $8.8 million for school employees.
For the past several years, educators in Baltimore County have been dealing with a bubble in our student population, a large generation of students, followed by a decrease in the number of students. Thanks to good decision-making and good management, we have dealt with this bubble without over building and without over extending our resources.
Our challenge now is to utilize classroom space effectively, and build where schools are most needed. We have included funding to acquire a portion of the Rosewood property for a new school site. We will begin construction this year on the new Woodholme Elementary School, a 720-seat facility that will address elementary school overcrowding, and we are exploring ways to deal with overcrowding in some of our middle and high schools.
This budget also includes funding for major school maintenance, funds to turn obsolete shop space at Eastern Technical High School into rooms for math classes, and $8.7 million for a technical education addition and other enhancements at Kenwood High. These two projects will create 500 new high school seats for the northeast area.
Even as we build new schools, we must stay focused on our challenging schools. Too many of the new students entering our school system are at risk for academic failure. Some come with incomplete records or evaluations, some have long gaps in attendance. Placing these students immediately in classrooms puts heavy demands on the school system, and hurts the students themselves.
This year, I join with Superintendent Hairston and the school board to propose a $1.6 million pilot program for a Secondary Transition School.
Students entering our schools from group home settings will have the benefit of one-on-one interactions with teachers at the Transition School to evaluate their needs, assess their behavior and familiarize the students with the curriculum of Baltimore County Schools. By helping these students make the transition to our school system, we increase their chances of success, and decrease the challenge to teachers and administrators in the schools these students will eventually attend.
To support the Secondary Transition School program, we will also add eight floating teachers to the school system's budget, six case managers to the Department of Social Services and an increase in drug counseling funding for the Department of Health to be used in schools receiving students from group homes.
We must improve programs to keep students going to class as well. There are eight middle schools and three high schools in Baltimore County where 15 to 30 percent of the students missed 20 or more days during the 2003 school year. Those numbers are up from just two middle schools in the 2000 school year. Countywide, 10.8 percent of middle school students and 13.4 percent of high school students missed 20 or more days during the 2003 school year.
To address this problem, I propose an additional two-and-a-half Pupil Personnel Workers to the one-and-a-half already requested by the school system. These PPWs serve as school truancy officers and will enhance our school Project Attend program.
Our educational commitment goes beyond high school. The jobs of the future will require more education and more advanced training. More of our students will need the opportunities provided by our community colleges.
Dr. Irving McPhail has done an outstanding job as Chancellor of the Community College of Baltimore County, and I thank former Senator Frank Kelley for his hard work as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Under their leadership, it has become a dynamic institution, helping students of all ages adapt to the changing world.
With this budget, we continue a four-year, $39 million maintenance program at the community college campuses. We will also start work on a new library at the Catonsville campus. The new library will be 80,000 square feet, almost 50 percent bigger than the existing one.
Baltimore County is home to many wonderfully diverse communities and lifestyles. We have urban neighborhoods with rich histories, bustling growth areas and quiet rural communities.
It is these communities that make this county a destination for business and new residents. We have an obligation to safeguard those communities, from crime, from the decay that threatens our established neighborhoods, from congestion that could choke our growth areas, and from over development that would threaten our open space. The success of each community depends on the success of all communities. This budget reflects the unique challenges each neighborhood faces, and the resources necessary to meet these challenges.
To help protect what is still the top industry in Baltimore County, this budget includes $75,000 to fund a feasibility study for an agricultural center to house the Baltimore County offices of the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service, the Baltimore County Farm Bureau, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Baltimore County Soil Conservation District.
Baltimore County has been one of the most successful counties in the state when it comes to preserving open space and agricultural land. We set a goal to preserve 80,000 acres, and we are now more than half way to that goal. This year I propose that through the Rural Legacy fund and the Agricultural Preservation program, the county spend $1.6 million to further our preservation efforts.
As part of the effort to renew our established communities, I am proposing $6 million in new recreation facilities, community centers and parks. This includes $1.8 million for a community center in Arbutus, $700,000 for a lighted football field in Chesterwood Park, and $1.8 million for the construction of a community center and police substation in Tall Trees Park. Our capital budget contains $1.5 million for the expansion of the Woodlawn Library, $450,000 for a senior center in Woodlawn, and $1.5 million for the construction of a new Inverness Community Center.
I propose $540,000 for the completion of the Eastern Regional Trail network, and $1.6 million for the renovation of ball fields and recreation areas countywide.
This budget also includes over $7 million for countywide renaissance projects. These funds will be used for community-based projects such as streetscapes and acquisition of property for use as community open space or to construct community buildings. The funds can be used in any area of the County, and we will be able to quickly respond to community concerns and opportunities to rid communities of abandoned buildings and blighted areas.
In the past year, Baltimore County saw a significant reduction in serious crime. Our police officers have done and continue to do an excellent job of keeping our communities safe. When Isabel struck, police officers on the ground evacuated residents, helped keep citizens informed and protected evacuated neighborhoods.
During that same storm, our firefighters worked tirelessly to rescue families from flooded homes. The police and fire departments in Baltimore County have worked wonders.
But we cannot slow our efforts to improve public safety. To keep the best police officers on the force, this budget includes a 13-year longevity increase, as well as an across-the-board pay raise for all police officers.
We have also adjusted the pay scale for the fire department. Firefighters will see a pay increase of over $2,000 in the next two years.
To ensure better communication in emergencies, I am proposing an upgrade of our Emergency Communications system. The current system will be 20 years old by the time the upgrade is completed.
Citizens in every community deserve quick access to police services, and community policing is a key part of our renaissance. Having police officers near by helps homeowners, business owners and communities. This year we will begin construction on a new police and fire complex in Parkville, a police precinct in Pikesville and a police substation in Essex, and the Randallstown police substation will open this summer.
The existing Parkville buildings have become obsolete. The total cost of the Parkville construction is $8.5 million -- $3 million for this year. Funding is already in place for the Randallstown substation and the Pikesville precinct.
The last year has brought major, positive changes to the business community in Baltimore County. Through the Office of Economic Development, county government has worked with more than 170 companies to facilitate expansion, new capital investment and job growth.
Symphony Health Services is doubling employment at its new Hunt Valley administrative headquarters, adding 100 new jobs. St. Paul Companies will bring 700 new jobs to the county in the fall of 2004, and the first two tenants have moved into the Colgate Business Park in the North Point Enterprise Zone.
To keep new companies moving in and existing ones expanding, I have proposed over $2 million for the Revolving Loan Fund this year. This puts the Loan Fund at its highest level, and will allow us to aid new and existing business around the county.
Construction began last summer and continues this year on the extension of Maryland Route 43, opening up acres of previously unusable land to new businesses, and we are also moving forward with the extension of Owings Mills Boulevard.
In addition to the Route 43 project, this budget includes $1.1 million for the engineering phase of the extension of Kelso Drive with construction scheduled to begin next year. These projects open up more space for business and manufacturing development, creating new opportunities for significant job growth in Baltimore County.
Our Commercial Revitalization Districts are attracting new business and new life. To nurture this renewal, we have included $120,000 for a marketing and advertising program for these districts.
As we look at the success of Baltimore County, it is impossible to overstate the importance of County Employees. In every department, county employees have worked hard to be the most efficient, effective government possible.
In past years, economic realities prevented us from offering more than step-increases to county employees. This year, we were able to restructure salary scales for police officers, firefighters and teachers and library employees. I am proud to announce that every other county employee will receive a 2.25 percent cost of living increase.
This cost of living increase is in addition to the step and longevity increases of over $5.7 million.
I submit this budget secure in the knowledge that the renaissance of Baltimore County is underway. As our communities change and improve, I am committed to meeting the needs of our citizens without jeopardizing the fiscal security of the county or passing a larger burden to future generations.
In difficult economic times, the hard work of our delegation in Annapolis, the County Council and others in government has enabled Baltimore County to fulfill its obligations without cutting services and without asking more of our taxpayers. I thank the Council and the delegation for their efforts and their support.
I believe this budget for Fiscal Year 2005 is the best possible use of our resources and the best way to secure the future of our communities. I ask the County Council to support this budget, and I look forward to working with the Council toward its passage.
Revised April 22, 2004
Courthouse 