budgets and budgeting

The Howard County Board of Education Tuesday night approved a $758.7 million operating budget request for fiscal year 2015, almost $17 million more than Superintendent Renee Foose initially proposed earlier this year. The budget includes $21.4 million as a placeholder for teacher raises.

The Army would shrink to its lowest troop levels since just before World War II under a budget proposed Monday by the Obama administration that seeks to downsize the Pentagon in ways that could have a significant impact on service members and contractors in Maryland.

After a year of sequestration, furloughs and a partial government shutdown, half of the federal workforce is considering leaving for the private sector, a marketing firm has found.

The Anne Arundel County school board voted on Wednesday to fully fund step increases to teachers' salaries in this year's operating budget proposal, a move that is slated to add $6.2 million to the overall $1.04 billion package that Interim Superintendent Mamie Perkins recommended in December.

The Bel Air Board of Commissioners voted on Tuesday night to move forward with the second phase of establishing a regional water authority in Harford County.

The GOP's focus on the income tax promises false relief for average Marylanders while offering the most benefits for the well-to-do.

Republican David R. Craig said Tuesday he would push to cut the state income tax rate for Maryland's wealthiest residents by more than 20 percent during his first year in office if elected governor.

As much as a few more inches of snow were forecast to accumulate by midday Saturday, further straining government snow removal budgets and setting back efforts to clean up from the region's heaviest snowfall in four years.

Baltimore metro local governments have exceeded their snow removal budgets.

This month, the council is once again looking at salaries for the next four years, as required by the county's charter.

Harford County and its municipalities are digging deep into their pockets to pay for snow removal this year, with most of the governments having already exhausted their budgets.

Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance faced questions last week from the Baltimore County Planning Board and Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot regarding the controversial central area elementary school construction plan.

Harford County's public school system may not have enough financial reserves to handle a major emergency, the system's top finance official said Monday.

Howard County public school officials and the county's teachers' union resumed talks Monday on pay increases for teachers in the coming budget, but a process that has been marred by contention yielded no immediate result.

Maryland is justifiably proud of being a leader in many health care initiatives. Yet, when it comes to adopting a simple policy that would save the lives of babies, Maryland policymakers are sadly behind much of the nation.

The Howard County Board of Education held the first of four work sessions on Superintendent Renee Foose's $742 million operating budget request for fiscal year 2015.

The modest sized boardroom at the Columbia Association¿s headquarters was overflowing Thursday evening with motivated tennis players who urged the CA Board of Directors to expedite the construction of an indoor tennis facility.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to divert pension savings to the general fund is unfair to workers and potentially harmful to Md.'s fiscal health.

Anne Arundel County is moving to re-start its police cadet program, which was eliminated more than a decade ago in a round of budget cuts.

Students from districts statewide on Thursday testified in opposition to a senate bill that would strip the Anne Arundel County school board student member of full voting rights.

About 500 Howard County Education Association members turned out for the public hearing Thursday, Jan. 29

It's time for the school system administration and the board of education to stop taking financial actions designed to get public attention and start taking a hard look at big ticket items like non-teaching staff positions – be they school based or administrative HQ based – and facilities management.

Revelations about Xerox State and Local Solutions should prompt audits of city and county speed camera systems.

The members of the Harford County Board of Education voted 7-3 Monday to adopt a $454.1 million proposed operating budget for the 2015 fiscal year, a budget request that includes an amendment to remove the school system's controversial extracurricular activity and interscholastic sports fees.

The value of Aberdeen Proving Ground's contracts slid 13 percent last year, though businesses with Maryland locations ended up with roughly as much as the year before.

Common Core, a controversial newly adopted set of education standards nationwide, has become a major concern of educators, school administrators and parents in Harford County and across Maryland.

Red Maryland attempts to fact check O'Malley's State of the State speech.

Both the pool and the tennis facility, which are slated to receive preliminary funding in the fiscal year 2016 capital budget, are not new projects to the CA Board of Directors. Stakeholders from both sides have presented their case to the board on multiple occasions throughout 2013.

As in past years, Baltimore officials are busy this month collecting budget input from city residents — a process they said helps inform real finance decisions under an "outcome-based" budget approach the city adopted in 2011.

With Superintendent Renee Foose's $742 million operating budget made public last week, the work to review and tweak the proposal has begun for both the Board of Education and a group of appointed citizens — a group that worried some of their purview was being curtailed by the administration.

A Fountain Green Elementary School parent and her daughter pleaded with the members of the Harford County Board of Education Wednesday evening to provide suitable funding to ensure children at her daughter's school had all of the educational technology they needed.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed state budget would be balanced in part with funds shifted from programs meant to buy parkland and protect farmland from development. Conservationists say the move short-changes land preservation, which they note has been a priority of the O'Malley administration.

Gov. Martin O'Malley released his fiscal year 2015 budget this week, and once again he made his long used, but false claim that he has cut the state budget. But the budget when Mr. O'Malley's first took office was $28.7 billion; his latest proposal would spend $39.2 billion. Where are the cuts?

Harford County Executive David Craig said Wednesday will offer a retirement incentive to cut the county government's workforce and save money.

List of school operating budgets in Howard, Anne Arundel and Prince George's Counties.

Harford residents can now undertake commercial enterprises on their agricultural land with a much smaller buffer than before, after the County Council passed a bill changing buffer yard requirements Tuesday night.

The members of Harford Community College's Board of Trustees unanimously approved a nearly $470,000 for design services during their meeting Tuesday, as college officials embark on the renovation and expansion of Edgewood Hall.

Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed a $39 billion state budget Wednesday that puts more money toward education, prisons and the environment, but calls for no new fees or taxes.

Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed a $39 billion state budget Wednesday that puts more money toward education, prisons and the environment, but calls for no new fees or taxes.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's last budget proposal leaves some hard questions for his successor but on the whole leaves the state in good shape.

Baltimore County Public Schools spending has not kept pace with other Maryland counties or its own surge in student enrollment at a time when the future demands more from our students. As a result, the superintendent's $1.4 billion budget proposal reflects three priorities: managing growth, raising the bar and closing gaps and investing in the future.

Baltimore County school Superintendent Dallas Dance rolled out Tuesday a $1.4 billion proposed budget for next year that would shave principals' budgets, increase seats for pre-kindergartners and add money for raises for employees.

Harford County residents had two more opportunities Monday to give their input to Harford County school officials as they develop the budget for the 2014-15 school year but, once again, the turnouts were sparse.

The Baltimore City Council gave preliminary approval Monday for two more years of tax breaks for developers rehabbing historic properties

WASHINGTON — Needle exchange advocates are urging lawmakers to use an upcoming must-pass budget bill to lift the decades-old prohibition on spending federal funds for clean syringes that are distributed to drug users, supporters of the effort said Thursday.

Carroll County Public Schools Superintendent Steve Guthrie has proposed an operating budget calling for a two percent increase, $4.8 million, in county funding for fiscal year 2015.