The Sierra Club opposes Bill 15-2018.
Sierra Club Howard County is opposed to granting the county council the power to change allocations for school site funding. We recommend the allocation percentages to remain the same between funding categories. If any one funding category is to be recalibrated, then the allocations for other categories would then necessarily be affected.
As we have said in our previous statements in relation to APFO, we believe it is incumbent on the development companies to make up for any perceived monetary need when granted the ability to develop land within Howard County. The recalibrating of percentages for needed funds as they pertain to school site funding, affordable housing, Ag Preserve and firehouse facilities should not be fought over, but rather funded appropriately by an increase in income.
We would also like to take this opportunity to voice our support, not only for the Ag Preserve program, but to allow for this program to grow in the future allowing more Howard County residents to join.
Lastly, on the subject of school overpopulation and current remedies being considered, we would like to request that more school additions be considered as a more viable option rather than continuous new school funding. We currently have a high density of kids in the eastern portion of the county attending overpopulated schools. Instead of shuffling kids around to where they could better squeeze in for the time being, or “shifting west” we submit to you that increasing capacity within the neighborhood schools is a more pragmatic approach to the issue. It keeps kids within their community and decreases the need to find more land for school site construction.
Howard County Bill 15-2018, Maryland General Assembly: the transfer tax. In January 2017, Bill 8-2017 was defeated (see below). Another bill is being proposed for the Maryland General Assembly in 2018: Ho Co 15-2018. The allocation of transfer taxes remains the same. The money received by the county from transfer taxes is split up this way: 25% school sites; 25% park land; 25% Agricultural Land Preservation; 25% split between low income services and fire department.
What's new in this bill is the provision for the County Council to increase the school site funding from 25% to 50%. It's not obvious what they would cut if they chose to do that. The County has to pay those landowners who already accepted the Agricultural Land Preservation agreement, and the money to pay that debt is supposed to be protected. But if that's all the funding that is protected, no new land would ever go into Agricultural Land Preservation. About 4100 acres could potentially be preserved...or converted into more housing developments in western Howard County.
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On February 8, 2017 the Howard Delegation voted NO on Bill 8-17. Many thanks to our Delegates for protecting the Agricultural Land Preservation program.
FOR the purpose of altering the distribution in Howard County of revenue from a certain 6 local transfer tax to provide funding for certain stormwater and flood control 7 projects; and generally providing for the distribution of certain tax revenue in 8 Howard County. 9 BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 10 The Public Local Laws of Howard County 11 Section 20.304 12 Article 14 – Public Local Laws of Maryland 13 (1977 Edition and August 2008 Supplement, as amended) 14 SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 15 That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 16 Article 14 – Howard County 17 20.304. 7lr1214 – 2 – 1 The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall pay over to the Director of Finance from time to 2 time, under such procedures as the Director of Finance may specify, the proceeds of this 3 tax. The Director of Finance shall hold such proceeds in the following manner: 25% in a 4 special fund known as “The School Site Acquisition and Construction Fund,” and 5 disbursements from this fund shall be made only for the purposes set forth in section 9.102 6 of the Howard County Code; 25% in a special fund known as “The Park Land Watershed 7 Facilities Fund,” and disbursements from this fund shall be made only for the purposes set 8 forth in section 19.100 of the Howard County Code; and the remainder in the general fund 9 of the county, with the stipulation that the County Council shall budget this remainder as 10 follows:
[50%] 40% plus the interest thereon for the Howard County Agricultural Land 11 Preservation Fund; 25% for community improvement and housing programs primarily 12 serving low income individuals and families and the homeless and for urban renewal; [and] 13 25% for the acquisition or leasing of land for new fire house sites and training facilities and 14 the construction and maintenance of fire house and training facilities, the acquisition and 15 maintenance of fire equipment, and supplementation of financial needs of fire companies 16 AND 10% FOR STORMWATER AND FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS. 17 SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
The percent allocated to the Agricultural Land Preservation fund would go from 50% to 40%, with the 10% going to stormwater and flood control projects. This diversion would cause the county to default on its obligations to pay landowners who have put their agricultural land into preservation. It would prevent any new agricultural land from going into preservation.