budgets and budgeting

A Baltimore Fire Department division developed to boost recruitment among black city residents and combat racial tensions within its ranks is set to be eliminated in a planned round of budget cutbacks.

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz proposes to spend more on schools without raising taxes, a feat made possible by some hard-nosed accounting

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman unveiled his fiscal 2014 operating budget Wednesday, a $966.7 million proposal that includes record funding for the public school system and increased funding for the police department.

When the economy gets better, and the size of the pie increases is the time to provide raises to the staff.

The transportation package passed by the General Assembly, including an increase in the gas tax, will have the most immediate impact on Howard County residents, but legislation out of Annapolis this year has little effect on the county budget, according to County Executive Ken Ulman

Robert Reich writes that despite progress on social issues, when it comes to economic matters, big money still talks.

Perry Hall is set to get more than $5.6 million to finish a park project that has languished for years, under the budget proposed by Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz on Monday.

New classroom space and a park at Spring Grove Hospital Center are included in the 2014 Baltimore County budget unveiled by Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz on Monday.

Howard County residents lobbied for an expansion to the county courthouse, an extension of Patuxent Trail and a sound barrier along I-95 in Elkridge Monday at the Howard County Council's public hearing on the proposed fiscal 2014 capital budget.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz on Monday unveiled a budget he says will let the county put 3,000 new seats in elementary schools and give residents better walking trails, parks and other recreational opportunities.

As capacity issues crop up at schools all across Baltimore County, County Executive Kevin Kamenetz announced Monday that the county budget for fiscal year 2014 will fund over 3,000 new seats in county elementary schools.

Obama budget will lead to disaster

OMB director says President Obama's budget makes needed investments while taking on entitlement spending

Sen. Ben Cardin lamented snowballing damage from federal budget cuts in town hall meetings with federal workers and small business leaders Friday, pledging to work toward an alternative budget solution by October.

The Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners is poised to approve another low interest loan to a private business in town.

Doyle McManus wonders if the president's new inflation formula will sway Republicans, even as liberals howl.

Labor unions representing federal employees reacted angrily to the $3.8 trillion budget unveiled Wednesday by President Barack Obama, who proposed trimming $20 billion from federal retirement benefits — reopening a debate many Democrats felt had been resolved last year.

Liberals are fuming at President Obama's proposed entitlement cuts, but the president's plan offers a way out of Washington's damaging cycle of manufactured budget crises.

To meet the federal Title IX law's goal of providing equal opportunities for athletes of both genders, schools have often eliminated men's teams to keep their overall rosters in line with the number of women playing sports. But a growing chorus is crying foul.

Online or social media bullying would be a crime under a bill passed by Maryland lawmakers and on its way to the governor's desk. Lawmakers also voted to outlaw the shark fin trade.

They believe that "below the belt" pay-back politics, which the governor is using against Harford County, should be another opportunity to take a cheap shot and blame the Delegation.

Federal public defenders in Maryland will have to take furlough days starting this week to accommodate spending cuts from sequestration. Nationally, judiciary spending is reduced by almost $350 million.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to put up $300,000 in taxpayer's money to save Towson University's baseball team came under fire Wednesday by some legislators and key Maryland fiscal policymakers for being unprecedented, unfair to other college sports programs and inappropriate.

The members of Bel Air's Board of Town Commissioners voted 4-1 Monday in favor of an amendment to the town's Development Regulations regarding townhouse construction.

O'Malley's effort to save Towson's baseball team may achieve a welcome result, but it sets a damaging precedent.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman unveiled his fiscal 2014 capital budget proposal Monday, a $442.4 million spending program that includes the most funding for public school projects since Ulman took office in 2006.

Towson University baseball could live to fight another year after Gov. Martin O'Malley included an additional $300,000 in his 2014 budget to help the university sort through difficulties with its athletic funding. The baseball program had been slated for elimination after this season until O'Malley became interested in its fate.

The construction sector, which has been in the tank for the better part of five years, is on the verge of receiving a sizable infusion of money from recent decisions in Annapolis.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman unveiled his fiscal 2014 capital budget proposal Monday, a $442.4 million capital spending program that includes the most funding for public school projects since Ulman took office in 2007.

One month after across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration began there are signs the impact on the economy — even in a state such as Maryland with strong ties to the federal government — might not be as severe as initially feared.

Eighteen months after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake voted to approve the purchase of four new helicopters for the Police Department, her proposed budget called for grounding one of them in a cost-saving move.

Monday's snow had no impact on the season at Aberdeen City Hall. It's the middle of Budget Season as the city and its department heads prepare the government's operating plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young plans to hire an independent budget analyst who last year helped to design an alternative proposal to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's budget.

The federal and state governments can solve their budget woes by closing corporate tax loopholes.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's proposal to require increased hours by Baltimore fire fighters is unfair.

While hundreds of thousands of federal workers brace for unpaid furloughs starting next month, Uncle Sam is still looking to hire.

We will all suffer when the sequester leads to pulling the plug on promising medical research

Sparse crowd hears concerns about cuts to school budget

Batts: Police will rein in budget

Choice of budgets is a no-brainer — unless you are a Democratic leader in Washington

Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget for next year was approved by the Senate after an unusually brief debate Wednesday in a sign of the state's improved fiscal condition.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's proposed Fiscal Year 2014 seeks to eliminate a projected $30 million deficit through a combination of new taxes and fees and cuts to employee benefits.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's $36.8 billion budget for next year received preliminary approval in the Senate after an unusually brief debate Wednesday in a sign of the state's improved fiscal condition.

Budget bill sailing through Senate

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's budget proposal shows the difficulty and promise of following her 10-year financial plan.

Robert Reich says President Obama must confront Republican dogma that diverts attention from the jobs crisis.

Nearly all of the members of Harford County's Board of Estimates approved a $23.5 million contract last week for construction of a new county Emergency Operations Center, although one member voted against it because more than $2 million of the total $28.6 million cost is currently unfunded.

The Bel Air town commissioners honored two local men Monday for their work with the Greater Bel Air Community Foundation, a nearly 15-year-old nonprofit which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars toward community projects in Bel Air and the surrounding areas.