Howard County Proposed Budget Includes More Money for Education, Libraries, Environmental Initiatives

In a time of economic recovery, the proposed Howard County operating budget includes increases to one of the top-ranked school districts in the state – and, for the first time in several years, more county money to the community college system.

This year’s general fund budget is $870.8 million, up 5.6 percent from last year, according to county officials. The total budget proposal is $1.6 billion. 

The increases were made possible by county savings accrued in past years and the fact that county income tax receipts are netting more tax dollars, said Howard County budget director Ray Wacks.

“We believe that whether it’s more jobs, or better pay, or the kind of jobs people have, our income tax receipts seem to be improving faster than in some other in other counties,” Wacks said. “Property taxes – those revenues are pretty flat – because of the falling value of homes.”

Also, in a change from the last two years, county employees would not be asked to take furloughs. But according to the budget proposal, 68 county positions would remain vacant, and there would be no cost of living salary increases for county employees this year.

The proposed budget, submitted by County Executive Ken Ulman Wednesday to the County Council, fully funds the Howard County School District with a proposed $467,617,041 to the district – about a $2.9 million increase from last year’s budget.

“I think we placed a high value on education,” said Calvin Ball, chairman of the Howard County Council. “I’m very pleased we will be able to fully fund the Board of Education and Howard Community College’s request.”

Ray Brown, the Howard County school district's chief financial officer, said the increase would pay for the 46 more staff members that need to be hired for the more than 700 extra students the district expects to join its classrooms in 2012.

He also said budget increases will pay for increasing transportation costs due to higher fuel costs.

Howard Community College is also seeing a proposed increase: $755,865 more, for a total of $25,951,335 in proposed county funding for fiscal year 2012, which the county said would accommodate growing enrollment.

Residents of Howard County would not see a tax increase, according to the proposed 2012 county budget, but they would be paying more in fees.

The proposed property tax rate for 2012 is $1.014 per $100 of assessed value, which means that a resident with a home valued at $424,000 would have an annual tax bill of $4,300.

Residents could see an increase in their water and sewage fees of 9 percent because Howard County, which gets most of its water from Baltimore City, recently saw a 9 percent cost increase in that service, Wacks said.

Howard County residents currently pay $1.37 for every 100 cubic feet of water used in the winter and $1.52 for every cubic foot used in the summer, he said. Under the proposed increase, residents would pay $1.49 for water used in the winter, and $1.65 in the summer.

Other budget proposals include:

• A new speed camera program in school zones. Six new positions are included to staff the program.
• A proposed funding increase for the county’s Office of Environmental Sustainability for administrative support and for an engineering specialist to oversee county storm water policies and activities.
• New positions for the library system because of the opening of the new Miller Branch in December 2011.
• A 30 percent proposed increase to the Economic Development Authority to help create more jobs in Howard County.

With reporting by Brandie Jefferson