Chair Olszewski, members of the County Council, county employees and friends of Baltimore County, it is my pleasure to present to you the proposed Baltimore County budget for Fiscal Year 2007, which begins on July 1.
Today is my fourth opportunity to present the budget to the Council and the citizens of Baltimore County. In every community, progress has been made, and our renaissance has come a long way since my first budget message on April 16 of 2003.
In the eight years prior to my administration, the County Council worked with my predecessor to address many pressing issues. Baltimore County had opened large, new regional parks. New public safety initiatives were put in place. Troubled communities like Tall Trees and Riverdale had been recreated and the county’s finances were in excellent shape, earning Baltimore County a Best Management Award from Governing Magazine and maintaining a Triple-A bond rating. In the beginning of 2003, we were a county well positioned to move forward.
Still, we faced challenges with potentially far-reaching consequences. In established, beltway communities, older shopping centers that once anchored those communities sat dark. In a rundown apartment complex called Kingsley Park, 285 families lived in unacceptable conditions, and the surrounding community lived with a haven for crime and a symbol of decay.
Residents in Essex/Middle River and Randallstown were looking for a plan for the future. The people of Dundalk were seeking help in implementing the plan they designed in 2001. In our schools, starting salaries for teachers were 16th in the state, making it difficult to attract and retain the best teachers available.
In communities across the county, a generation of young people was deciding whether to put down roots in Baltimore County or seek what they hoped would be greener pastures elsewhere. What they needed from County Government was a commitment to preserve the values and character of Baltimore County’s past and to secure the promise of our shared future.
In the past four years, to ensure our county’s safety we opened the new Franklin police precinct and two new substations in Essex and Randallstown. Two additional precincts will open soon in Pikesville and Parkville. Including those officers added this year, 50 new police officers and civilian police personnel will be working in our communities. Our crime rate is at its lowest level since 1980.
We added new emergency medical personnel in the fire department last year, and have purchased 35 new or replacement fire trucks and medic units since 2002. Our County first responders now communicate with their regional partners through state-of-the-art radio equipment.
Three years ago, we committed to putting Baltimore County’s families first—and we have. In each of the last three budgets we have raised salaries for teachers, put more teachers in the classrooms and forward-funded the construction of two badly needed new schools at Woodholme Elementary and Windsor Mill Middle.
Working with Superintendent Dr. Joe Hairston and the school board, we have created and implemented programs to raise student achievement, created a Transitional School to smooth the way for children in state group homes, and expanded all-day kindergarten.
For third, fifth and eighth graders, state assessment scores in reading and math have risen between 9 percent and 18 percent. A recent study by the Schott Foundation for Public Education shows that our eighty percent graduation rate for African American males leads the nation, and is what one researcher called “the benchmark for the whole country.”
We have made it easier for families to put down roots. Our Settlement Expense Loan Program has helped 255 families buy their first homes, and those families have committed to staying in their county communities for at least five years. Kingsley Park is gone, and the site is poised to become a beautiful new neighborhood in Essex/Middle River. This year’s budget will include $1 million to expand Workforce Home Ownership Opportunities.
In 2001, Dundalk became the first Baltimore County community to enlist the help of an Urban Design Assistance Team, and the county is spending over seventy million dollars to help implement the UDAT vision Dundalk created. Since 2003, Essex/Middle River and Randallstown have had their own UDAT process, and Towson’s will begin early this summer. We have also begun the acquisition of the Yorkway Apartments. Together we will build another beautiful neighborhood in Dundalk.
We have built five new parks and two community centers, increased the number of senior centers to 19, expanded their services and added fitness centers to look after the physical health and mental well-being of county residents of advanced maturity, as Bobby Knatz would say.
Those empty shopping centers are once again bustling with activity. Liberty Plaza and Brenbrook Plaza in Randallstown are in the midst of a major renaissance, attracting national retail tenants. The Hawthorne, Golden Ring and Martin Plaza Shopping Centers are undergoing major renovations. Historic Dundalk Village is being renovated and almost all the shopping centers in our revitalization areas have seen significant renaissance.
The Department of Economic Development has assisted over 200 businesses with loans for equipment and facilities, training grants, and tax credits in revitalization districts. That investment has paid off in the form of major expansions at companies like GM Powertrain, Lockheed Martin, and St. Paul Companies. More than 11,000 new jobs were created in Baltimore County between 2003 and the middle of 2005. We are now the second-largest employment jurisdiction in Maryland.
The renaissance of Baltimore County has come to life, and touched every part of our community. There is no doubt that our neighborhoods are stronger than they were just three years ago.
Among the core virtues that have guided 150 years of county government are careful planning, fiscal discipline, and concern for the future. Those virtues still bind us together today. Each year’s budget must take into account not only the next 12 months, but how those months will affect the months and years farther down the road.
As we watched our delegation in Annapolis work this session to add funding to a variety of programs, it would be easy to forget that three years ago we faced significant cuts in aid to local governments. Revenues were down, and leaders all around the state were faced with tough choices.
In Baltimore County, we delivered a lean budget in 2003, but Baltimore County’s history of disciplined fiscal management made it possible for us to avoid major program and personnel cuts. Baltimore County has not raised the property tax rate in 16 years or the income tax rate in 12, a legacy that continues this year extending that management tradition to 17 and 13 years respectively. In Baltimore County we are careful not to create burdensome obligations for future generations, and that will continue this year as well.
Increases in the costs of everything from asphalt and concrete to gasoline, electricity, workers compensation, debt service and retirement expenses will increase the county’s fixed costs for the coming year by more than $61 million. We must be mindful that this will not be the last time that the cost of goods and raw materials go up.
Those same factors have driven up costs for capital projects already under construction. Our middle school renovations alone will cost between 25 percent and 70 percent more than was expected, and the cost of other capital projects has increased. This year’s budget includes additional current expense funding to cover higher than anticipated costs on previously budgeted projects ranging from community centers to the new library at the Community College of Baltimore County.
Healthcare is projected to cost an additional $22 million over what we spent last year, and we must address our commitment to county employees who have retired after long careers in public service.
Starting on July 1 of next year, a new regulation requires all governments to fund future retiree health and life insurance benefits on an accrual basis. The State estimates that its total outstanding liability is in excess of $20 billion. The projected cost for Baltimore County is estimated to exceed $2 billion. My proposed budget includes $50 million as a down payment on this pension obligation, but we will need the help of our employee groups to fully meet the challenge of this new regulation.
With the budget I am proposing, Baltimore County will continue our renaissance, and we will continue to provide county residents with the services they need and the amenities that strengthen our communities. But we will also keep our feet planted on firm ground, and our eyes fixed on the future.
For most of us, a home is the largest investment we will ever make. Baltimore County wants that investment to grow in value for everyone, and at the same time we want to keep home ownership affordable.
Members of the County Council have been considering building on the State’s Homeowners Tax Credit to create a local property tax credit for the citizens of Baltimore County. This budget includes a proposal that would set the maximum amount of county taxes that homeowners at certain income and asset levels would be responsible to pay.
This proposal is tax relief for those who need it most—county residents whose home values have grown at a rate considerably faster than family income. Under this approach, eligibility for the tax credit would take into account both income and property value, reducing the tax bill for many homeowners.
I believe this a good idea, a fair property tax credit, and an important program for working families and seniors on fixed incomes. This program will provide almost $3 million in savings for Baltimore County families. With this credit and the 4 percent tax assessment cap, Baltimore County residents will see nearly $70 million in property tax relief next year.
This year’s budget includes just over $714 million for our schools. It is an increase of $59 million over last year, and $15.3 million over the state required maintenance of effort.
The children of Baltimore County are working hard to meet the expectations and requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, and they are achieving the kind of results we all hope for.
Seven Baltimore County Public Schools were listed among Newsweek Magazine’s Top 1000 Public High Schools nationally. In art and music, our schools have programs that are nationally—even internationally—recognized, and we are leading the way in the effort to close the achievement gap for minority students.
There is no doubt that our students are learning, and that our teachers are doing an outstanding job. Keeping good teachers, and hiring the best available new teachers, requires us to clearly demonstrate how we value the contribution our teachers make.
This year’s budget includes $ 22.4 million to increase teacher salaries by 5 percent. Since 2002, Baltimore County will have gone from 16th in the state in pay for new teachers to 4th. This budget also includes funds for 3 percent cost of living increases for all other school system employees.
With this budget we will also add 197 positions in the school system, including 25 people to staff the new Windsor Mill Middle School, and 21 kindergarten teachers as we add full-day kindergarten at 10 more schools bringing the total number of schools with full-day kindergarten to 95. In addition to those teachers and support staff, the budget includes more than $1 million to put a paid-parent helper in each of our 104 elementary schools.
While the budget will fund a full-time paid parent helper to support our kindergarten teachers, we will do even more. I am pleased to announce that Baltimore County’s Director of Aging, Arnold Eppel, who is also in charge of Baltimore County Volunteers is committed to placing a trained volunteer in every kindergarten class in every community across Baltimore County. As everyone knows, Arnold is the finest Director of Aging in the nation, and when he says something will happen, it happens.
The Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID program has been a high priority for Superintendent Hairston and the School Board. It is helping more Baltimore County students who might have been over looked in the past prepare for higher education. AVID is now in 15 schools, with 768 participants. Participation in AVID improves attendance, increases participation in honors and AP courses, and increases high school assessment pass rates. Ninety-eight percent of AVID seniors have applied to college. This is a program that works, and we are going to help it grow. This year’s budget includes funding for three and a half additional AVID staff positions, and adds $187,000 dollars to help AVID expand.
All of our teachers and all of our students deserve to be in school buildings that are conducive to today’s learning. School renovation and construction funding has been our highest priority in Annapolis every year, and it is a priority in this budget as well.
Thanks in large measure to Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones and Senator Ed Kasemeyer, Baltimore County secured $35 million in State funding for school renovation and construction this year. Baltimore County’s contribution will add more than three times as much—just over $107 million. Forty-six percent of Baltimore County’s Capital budget will go toward building better schools.
Of that funding, we will dedicate $79.5 million to renovation projects at Holabird, Loch Raven, Woodlawn, Catonsville, Deep Creek, Perry Hall, Old Court, Cockeysville, General John Stricker, Pikesville, Lansdowne, Deer Park, Pine Grove and Hereford middle schools, completing our middle school renovation program. This will allow us to begin the renovation of our high schools in 2008. To help accomplish that, we have programmed another $40 million in current expense money, along with $72 million in the bond referendum for Fiscal Year 2008.
The budget also includes $23.7 million for the construction of Vincent Farms Elementary School, a new school serving students in the northeast.
The Community College of Baltimore County serves 70,000 students each year. CCBC is a valuable resource, and our budget provides $42 million in operating funds for the college, an increase of $2.5 million over last year.
I am also pleased to introduce—here at her first budget message—Dr. Sandra Kurtinitis, who thanks to recent State legislation, is no longer a Chancellor but is now President of the Community College of Baltimore County.
This budget includes $21.6 million for the construction of the Randallstown and Dundalk Community Centers, the streetscape on Hammonds Ferry Road, and the Towson Circle Park and other renaissance projects. We will also allocate $3.6 million for a community center in Arbutus, and budget the first $300,000 of a total of $5.3 million for the construction of the Jacksonville Park and Community Center.
A few days ago, I attended the grand opening of the new Lansdowne Library. It was wonderful and it is a beautiful facility. Like all of our libraries it provides more than just books. Our libraries are meeting places for community groups, study centers for students, a resource for people who need Internet access, and anchors in our communities. Library Director Jim Fish and his staff have done an outstanding job expanding library services like wireless Internet. The library has worked with the Early Childhood Action Committee to put Early Child Literacy Activity Centers in six libraries and this budget funds activity centers in the 11 remaining County Libraries. Good libraries are key for strong communities, and this budget includes $3.6 million in additional funds for the construction of the new Perry Hall Library and an additional $1.3 million for the expansion of the Pikesville Library and Senior Center.
Baltimore County’s budget for 2007 will match state bond funding secured this legislative session, and together the county and the bond bills will fund $450,000 for the rehabilitation of the Perry Hall Mansion, $275,000 for improvements to Todd’s Inheritance and $500,000 for Banneker Historical Park. We will also spend $2.4 million for the installation of artificial Safety Turf on recreation fields at Seminary Park and at Catonsville High School.
Our County Courts Building has been plagued by problems with its public elevators. This budget helps provide a total of $2.5 million for the replacement of the eight public elevators.
For the fourth year in a row, Baltimore County’s crime rate fell last year. We are safer now than at anytime in the last 25 years.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to the people who provide that security. Our police chief—Terry Sheridan—leads an outstanding department. Our communities are safe because our police department is proactive. We will give them the resources they need to stay ahead of the criminal element.
This budget includes funding for eight new police officers for an investigative unit focused on the illegal use of firearms. We will also add 13 new officers for the Police Community Action Team to focus on robberies and property crimes in our major commercial areas. Criminals will know that when it comes to crime, Baltimore County continues to post a Do Not Enter sign.
As with all our public servants, we are fortunate to have police officers who meet the highest standards. The salary agreement we negotiated with our sworn officers will provide reclassifications and an across the board 3 percent increase which takes effect on January 1 of 2007.
Our Fire Department makes a vital contribution to security as well. Under Fire Chief John Hohman, the County Fire Department is one of the most diverse and effective in the region. These men and women face danger on our behalf every day, and we value their efforts. In this budget, career firefighters will receive a salary increase of 3 percent, as well as a longevity increase at 21 years. Lieutenants and above will receive an additional grade increase.
This budget also includes $1.5 million toward new equipment for volunteer fire companies, and adds three volunteer fire companies to a program that guarantees adequate medic staffing for volunteer firehouses. We have also allocated $200,000 dollars to ensure that water to fight fires is easily accessible for fire fighters in rural parts of the county.
To better protect county employees, we are proposing $730,000 in funding for additional security at the Old Court House, The Jefferson Building, and the County Office Building.
As we work to safeguard Baltimore County’s families, we must also work to preserve Baltimore County’s environment. This year’s budget includes $10.3 million for land preservation, the Rural Legacy fund, and waterway and watershed improvements throughout the county.
Some of the most important economic resources we have in Baltimore County are our colleges and universities. These institutions are vital to the education and training of our workforce, but they do even more. Today, colleges and universities are driving innovation. It is essential that Baltimore County build collaborative relationships with higher education beyond our community college, just as we have done with K through 12.
University-affiliated business incubators generate significant business start-ups, diversify the tax base, and provide growth opportunities, jobs, capital investment and keep entrepreneurs in our community. We want the commercialization of university research to happen, and we want it to happen here.
Business incubators provide leased space, shared administrative services and resources that are essential for early stage companies. Baltimore County companies such as In Vitro Technologies and Direct Dimensions are thriving graduates of UMBC's technology incubator.
Under the leadership of Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, UMBC is a model university in nurturing and growing entrepreneurs and new and emerging businesses, combining public responsibility with technical expertise. Over 90 percent of the companies in UMBC's business incubator and research park have hired graduates, hosted interns, or collaborated with faculty and programs from UMBC.
This budget includes $75,000 for the techcenter@UMBC. Funding will support business services programs, including the Entrepreneur-in-Residence, CFO-in-Residence, and the University of Maryland Legal Clinic, which provides technology entrepreneurs with expertise in intellectual property and other legal issues.
We will also allocate $125,000 to help Towson University establish a new university-affiliated business incubator in the northeast area of the County. Towson University brings significant academic strengths in technology fields, business, and international affairs, which will provide important resources to the business incubator.
Towson is the second largest university in Maryland, and under Dr. Bob Caret, the school has put an increased emphasis on forging stronger links between the university and the community it serves. As with the techcenter@UMBC, the County will be an active partner in the Towson University incubator.
All the initiatives of the past four years, all those proposed this year, and the daily operation of our government, require a sustained commitment from one group of people—Baltimore County’s employees. Whether they are helping draw new businesses to Baltimore County, making sure our parks are clean and inviting, or monitoring the quality of our environment, Baltimore County employees play a critical and central role in the renaissance of our communities and the prosperity of our County. This year’s budget provides those employees a 3 percent cost of living increase.
Since 1968, my wife and I have lived on the same street in the same house in northwest Baltimore County. Our children and grandchildren still live nearby. Over the years, we have seen many changes, but Baltimore County remains a wonderful place to raise a family, with safe neighborhoods, good schools, a healthy environment and a strong local economy.
Our County is committed to serving families through education, libraries, community centers, and strong public services. And Baltimore County will always be a partner in protecting every family’s most important investment—their homes.
Baltimore County residents should know that we will always be focused on keeping our communities safe—from crime, disaster, medical emergency, and threats to the air we breath and the water we drink.
And of course, the men and women of Baltimore County Government are as dedicated as ever to providing a government that works for the citizens we serve.
The Fiscal Year 2007 budget of 2.6 billion dollars is a disciplined, efficient budget that promotes Baltimore County’s high quality of life by investing resources where they are needed most, meeting current obligations and preparing for future challenges, and respecting Baltimore County’s long-standing commitment to minimizing the tax burden on county residents. I look forward to working with the members of the Baltimore County Council to pass this budget and to keep Baltimore County’s Renaissance on the move.
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