budgets and budgeting

The Columbia Association Board of Directors suspended its rules Thursday evening to approve the allocation of $283,000 for an incentivized employee bonus program.

The following is the complete text of Aberdeen Mayor Mike Bennett's 2013 State of the City Address delivered at the May 20 city council meeting.

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to approve a $367 million operating budget for fiscal year 2014, a budget that includes flat-funding all county non-profits, $400,000 for a controversial Educational Opportunity Fund, raises for county employees, and a slight tax decrease for residents.

The Howard County Council on Thursday adopted a $923.5 million annual general fund spending plan that increases allocations for schools and police while not raising income or property taxes.

Baltimore County Council members formally adopted a county budget Thursday they say focuses on basic services, approving a spending plan that will keep residents' property tax rate flat for the 25th year in a row.

The Carroll County Board of Education approved its fiscal year 2014 operating budget Wednesday by a 3-2 vote, but board members made it clear they believe more funding for Carroll County Public Schools is needed in future years.

Havre de Grace Councilmen Fred Cullum, John Correri and Randy Craig were sworn into their new council seats, and Mayor Wayne Dougherty was back at the helm of the council Monday night.

The Harford County Council approved a number of school-related and other amendments to the fiscal 2014 county budget Tuesday night, including funding Sunday hours at the Jarrettsville library branch and new computers at a Bel Air school.

The Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners voted Monday to adopt a $15,075,295 budget for the 2014 fiscal year and also agreed to borrow over $750,000 for parking garage improvements and studies of the town's sewer system. Monday night's town meeting was also the annual presentation of winners of the Historic Preservation Commission's annual school poster contest.

A meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening will be the first opportunity for county residents to provide input and suggestions on the Baltimore County Public Schools capital budget for fiscal year 2015.

The Harford County Public Library told County Executive David Craig it is concerned about the county's rejection of its budget proposal for fiscal year 2014, which is 2.67 percent higher.

The Baltimore school board unanimously passed a $1.174 billion budget Monday that had essentially remained intact since it was presented.

A Baltimore County councilman has not reported his outside employment on financial disclosure forms for the past several years, including his work with a painting and drywall company that has a $3.1 million contract at a new high school being built in his district.

Through several work sessions between the Howard County Board of Education and the County Council, the board was asked to make possible cuts in a good-faith effort to get the government to replenish the healthcare fund in fiscal year 2014.

The Bel Air town commissioners held their final budget work session Tuesday as town officials finalize the $15.07 million budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

Only three people spoke during the Harford County Council's first of two public hearings on the budget Wednesday.

The Maryland university system's Board of Regents an overall 2.4 percent increase in tuition and fees for fiscal year 2014 and expressed optimism about the future of Baltimore's Coppin State University.

The first iteration of the Mayor Craig Moe's $27.3 million budget for the 2014 fiscal year proposes a six percent increase over the 2013 budget, despite no changes to city's tax rate and residential tax revenue, and a minuscule increase to the city's real estate tax revenue.

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners will consider flat-funding all non-profits in the county's fiscal year 2014 budget while reducing the proposed Education Opportunity Fund as they move forward in the budget process.

St. Mary's College of Maryland has only locked in about two-thirds of the students it needs for a full freshman class next school year, a shortfall that could cost the public liberal arts school $3.5 million in lost tuition.

The Anne Arundel County Council is weighing several options for revising the county's new stormwater fee, including a proposal to reduce some fees for homeowners.

The City of Aberdeen's proposed operating budget for 2014 will be 27 percent higher that this year's budget, but there will be no increase in local real property, personal property or utility tax rates.

The Carroll County Board of Education postponed its vote on a proposed fiscal 2014 operating budget Wednesday preferring to wait until the Board of County Commissioners holds its next work session on the county budget May 14.

P3s combine the strengths of two sectors while creating jobs and saving taxpayers money

Two members of the Harford County Council wanted to give Harford residents a tax break 25 years ago, and were proposing amendments to the executive's budget that would reduce the property tax rate by 10 cents.

Russell Strickland, the new director of Harford County's newly-minted Department of Emergency Services, appeared before members of the County Council Thursday make the case for his department's $20 million-plus budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

Robert Reich writes that Republicans are undermining government programs by failing to enforce or implement them.

Carroll County residents lobbied the Board of County Commissioners Monday that additional funding in the fiscal year 2014 budget should be directed to Carroll County Public Schools and non-profit organizations.

Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin and its partners bring an F-35 "cockpit demonstrator" to the Baltimore area to show elected officials and the media what the fighter jet can do — a counter to years of stories and Congressional hearings about delays, technical problems and massive cost overruns.

Coppin State University is moving forward with an $80 million Science and Technology Center despite concerns that the school will not have enough money to operate the building.

While Harford County property owners are set to get some relief, by having to pay only 10 percent of a $125 stormwater fee, Department Public Works officials must deal with only having 10 percent of their initially-allocated budget next year.

In her first county budget message since becoming Anne Arundel County executive two months ago, Laura Neuman proposed a $1.3 billion operating budget for the coming fiscal year – a plan she said begins to tackle issues in a government she said had fallen "way behind in culture, attitude and investment."

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman is scheduled to unveil her first-ever county budget on Wednesday in Annapolis.

With Havre de Grace's election just around the corner, on May 7, voters will get the chance to cast their vote for one of two mayoral candidates and three of five candidates running for city council.

Reductions in property tax rate and income tax rate proposed by Board of Commissioners

Area billboard companies are speaking out against a proposed tax introduced by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake this week.

Looking up from a nearly $20 million gap, Harford County Public Schools officials appealed to the members of the Harford County Council Thursday morning to fully fund their request for $241 million from the county for their Fiscal Year 2014 operating budget.

Area delegates and senators representing Catonsville and Arbutus reflect on the highs and lows of the 2013 Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session

With about $200,000 more in Highway User Revenues coming back from the state than they anticipated, Bel Air officials discussed Wednesday a variety of projects the extra money could be used for in the coming fiscal year.

Maryland lawmakers called Wednesday for a sweeping inquiry into the state's prison system, amid allegations that a gang effectively took over the Baltimore City Detention Center, orchestrating crimes from behind bars and impregnating female correctional officers who helped smuggle in contraband.

While Lisbon volunteer firefighters are assuming that their contingent firefighter program will remain in place come July, Howard County Fire Chief Bill Goddard said it has yet to be decided.

The salary for any future mayors of Aberdeen would be more than doubled and the salary for city council members nearly doubled, if a new bill introduced by the council Monday night is approved.

Baltimore school officials unveiled their $1.174 billion budget plan Tuesday, which they said focuses on academics with a new science team to implement curriculum, programs for advanced students and a shifting of staff in the central office.

Two Hall of Famers came before the Harford County Board of Education Monday, but neither had played for the Orioles or the Ravens.

A group of Korean War veterans presented a $1,000 donation to the Harford County Public Library Thursday in an effort to support library programs to commemorate this year's 60th anniversary of the end of the war.

Bel Air town officials plan to replace the brick sidewalk and plantings along the Office Street side of the grounds of the Harford County Circuit Courthouse, and hope to convince county leaders to improve the courthouse grounds.

We can reform entitlements not by punishing seniors but by closing loopholes, reducing health care costs