HCPOA NEWS
Residents make final budget pleas to Ulman
Mar 21, 2009 (11:03:17)
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As the clock winds down before County Executive Kenneth Ulman submits his budget for next year, local residents are making their final pitches for how he should spend the money.About 30 people testified at two hearings this week — one Wednesday night, another Thursday afternoon — where Ulman took suggestions for the fiscal year 2010 budget. Ulman will submit his capital budget April 1 and his operating budget April 20, after which the County Council will hold hearings and then adopt a final version on May 20.
The fiscal year begins July 1.
At Thursday’s hearing, Ulman said the budget talks are coming during “one of the toughest economies that anyone has seen."
Ulman said he is considering all possible avenues for balancing the budget, including layoffs and furloughs.
“We have more difficult decisions than this county has had to make in a long time,” Ulman said, before adding jokingly: “Anyone who would like to ask for less money, please feel free.”
The top request at Wednesday’s meeting was to not cut money from Howard Community College, followed by similar requests for the county’s library system, Ulman said.
But the requests on both days covered a range of issues.
Dale Schumacher, a physician and Elkridge resident, urged the county to continue spending money on its Healthy Howard program, which provides health coverage to uninsured residents for a monthly fee.
“What you and the county are doing is absolutely terrific,” he said.
Schumacher also urged Ulman to not spend any more taxpayer dollars on the Belmont Conference Center, a historic-building owned by the community college’s foundation that hosts weddings, meetings and other events.
“It’s taking away money from other initiatives,” he said.
Resident Priscilla Pitts made a pitch for library funding, saying she is part of two book clubs that meet at the Savage branch library.
“Libraries, along with schools, are the backbone of our education system,” she said. “Every dollar spent on a library is a dollar well spent.”
Bridget Mugane, president of the Howard County Citizens Association, said the county should spend money to create a Route 40 design manual. The corridor is crammed with garish signs, parking lots unconnected to other businesses and uncoordinated development, she said.
Because development has slowed in the area, Mugane said, it is a good time to put the manual together, before the economy picks up again and building increases.
Barbara Schnackenberg, co-president of the Howard County League of Women Voters, pushed general priorities — public safety, education, libraries and transportation.
She also said the county should do as much as it can to help people who lose their jobs because of the economy, including making sure the Healthy Howard program continues to receive funding.
“People will be needing health insurance if they lose their jobs,” she said.
Ruth Watkins, of Ellicott City, called for more money for Howard County Transit, a service she frequently uses because she is legally blind, she said. The service has improved over past years, but some busses still need to be replaced, she said.
“I think I ride on one of the oldest in the fleet,” she said. “It breaks down frequently.”
Watkins also urged Ulman to devote more money to a program that helps senior citizens recover from surgery at their homes. It has a long waiting list, she said.
“I think we can do better by our seniors,” she said.
In related news, the county announced Thursday it trimmed $250,000 from the 2010 budget by dropping a business recycling program. The program, which collected recycling materials from businesses, private schools, churches, state agencies and apartment buildings, will be picked up the Howard County Chamber of Commerce as part of a recycling cooperative.
The business recycling program started in 2003 and the county will stop putting money in the program June 26. The chamber will allow all businesses, not just chamber members, to participate.
Although the county had a waiting list of businesses wanting to sign up for the program, the current economy made it impossible for the county to continue paying for it, Ulman said in a written statement.
