Citing fiscal concerns, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman has announced a hold on spending for any new capital projects, at least through the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Among the projects affected are a replacement building planned for Havre de Grace High and Middle schools and a second phase to the county's new emergency services headquarters, as well as a major renovation that was in the planning stage for Joppatowne High School.
"Although I expect to give a status report on the county's fiscal condition at my State of the County Address on February 2, I have begun to notify some agencies that large new capital projects will be deferred until the county's revenue picture improves and our efficiency measures take hold," Glassman said in a statement issued Friday afternoon.
He said he had already notified Harford County Public Schools officials because of an impending hearing with the State Interagency Committee on School Construction, which allocates state funding for local school construction projects.
"Because of an impending hearing date with the state Interagency Committee on School Construction, the Harford County Board of Education was the first agency to be notified that I reluctantly plan to defer funding of the Havre de Grace Middle/High School project in my proposed budget for fiscal year 2016," Glassman said. "I also requested that the proposed Joppatowne High School project be deferred."
"These and any future deferrals are not a reflection on the merits of planned projects," the county executive's statement continued. "Rather, they reflect ongoing fiscal pressures that call for a temporary delay in large, multi-year commitments and additions to the county's debt obligations. My hope is that my administration's efforts to streamline government and promote economic development will allow the county to put worthy projects back on track as soon as possible."
Thomas Fitzpatrick, who represents the Havre de Grace area on the Harford County Board of Education, said Monday he wasn't surprised at the announcement, noting that Glassman had told him and other board members before he became county executive that "he was only going to support one major project at a time."
"We have spoken periodically since and he [Glassman] hasn't changed," Fitzpatrick added.
But Fitzpatrick also noted that Glassman has "reiterated" support for the Havre de Grace project in correspondence with school officials and the Interagency Committee, as well in his public statement released Friday.
"Am I shocked" about the announcement? "No," he continued.
"Am I confident the school will get built? Absolutely. I'm going to keep on top of the priority list."
Fitzpatrick said he isn't sure what a delay of at least a year, and possibly more, might do to the Havre de Grace project. He said the school system's contractor "is far along on construction documents" and that he was scheduled to meet with HCPS staff Monday regarding the project.
He also said it's expensive to have to reapply for permits already issued and noted that regulations can change in the interim, explaining that's exactly what happened with the stormwater management design for the Youth's Benefit Elementary School replacement building.
"We may not get it this year, but I do believe the school will be built before the end of Barry's first term," he said.
The Havre de Grace High/Middle School project is estimated to cost $86.7 million, which Glassman has said he believes will be significantly higher. The Joppatowne High renovation project's estimated cost is $27 million in the current capital budget.
Harford received local planning authority approval for the Havre de Grace High/Middle project last winter from the Interagency Committee, and the design for the new school is in progress.
"There will be a delay in both state and local funding that will impact the project," Jillian Lader, Harford County Public Schools manager of communications, wrote in an email regarding the Havre de Grace project. "We will stop the planning process until the funding issue is settled, therefore the project schedule will be delayed until then."
"The project is currently in the planning stages, with early stages of construction documents," she continued. "There are various design activities taking place, such as Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments and required presentations before the Havre de Grace Planning Board."
According to Lader, planning funds of $3,950,000 were provided by the county last year. To date, she added, $2.2 million has been committed to things such as design work, scope study and geotechnical testing.
Lader said the estimated cost of the Joppatowne project is $30,873,000.
"We have $1,000,000 in hand of local funds for planning, which will be delayed until the funding issue is settled," she said.
As of last June 30, Harford County owed almost $869 million in principal and interest on bonds sold to build schools and other public buildings, as well as water and sewer facilities, according to the county's year-end financial report for the 2013-14 fiscal year. The county borrowed $40 million in 2014, most of which was earmarked for the emergency services building project.
During the nearly two years he spent laying the groundwork for becoming county executive, Glassman, who was elected Nov. 4 and took office Dec. 1, frequently expressed concerns about the county's high debt load. Debt service repayment obligations in the current budget are about $68 million, according to the financial report, and annual payments will not be declining markedly in any of the ensuing four years.
The county, which has almost 250,000 residents, is also dealing with three straight fiscal years in which expenditures in its general operating budget exceeded revenues, a condition known in government parlance as a "structural deficit." That situation has been blamed mainly on slow revenue growth because of the economy. County agencies have generally underspent their budgets during the period.
Glassman previously announced a government reorganization plan whose main thrust is to trim the county workforce by attrition, accelerated with a retirement incentive package offered to the most senior employees. Approval of the buyout plan, which could add as much as $6.7 million to current operating budgets, is expected to be approved by the County Council in the next two weeks.
Cindy Mumby, Glassman's spokesperson, said Friday's announcement "is certainly consistent with what we have been saying all along."
She also stressed the deferral of capital projects won't affect those already under way, such as the $37 million replacement building for Youth's Benefit Elementary in Fallston, on which construction began during the summer.
"We are talking about projects for which no shovels are yet in the ground," Mumby said.
The emergency operations building's total estimated cost is $46.4 million. The main building was completed last fall; however, construction of an auxiliary building planned to house an emergency radio shop and other functions has not been contracted. The final $10 million for the project was funded in the current capital budget.
Glassman, who is a Havre de Grace High School graduate, judiciously avoided coming out in favor of the project, which was pushed by his predecessor – and fellow Havre Grace High alum – David Craig, who fought a three-year battle with some school officials and county council members to advance the priority for funding the project. Glassman was a member of the Maryland Senate during that period.
In mid-April, Glassman will submit his first operating and capital budgets as county executive, covering the 2015-16 fiscal year.