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   BALTIMORE CITYcity
City Set to Increase Transfer and Recordation Tax by 40 percent 
Councilman John Bullock, along with the entire City Council as co-sponsors, has introduced Bill 18-0221 . The bill raises the transfer tax by .6 percent and the recordation tax by .4 percent for a total of 1 percent, on all commercial transactions while exempting owner-occupied residential transfers. This takes Baltimore City's total transfer and recordation tax to 4 percent, which is 1.5 percent more than any other jurisdiction in the State. Money raised by this new tax will go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund created by Baltimore City voters in 2016. While MBIA supports adding funds to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, it does not support an additional tax on business transactions. At this time, no hearing or further action has occurred as the MBIA has actively lobbied the Mayor, City Council President and Members of the City Council to consider alternative approaches to funding affordable housing.
 CALVERT COUNTYcal
Calvert County, Maryland, Board of County Commissioners Approves FY 2019 Budget
The Calvert County, Maryland, Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously approved a $297.5 million Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 General Fund operating budget. It is a balanced budget and includes a reduction of the real property tax rate from $0.952 to $0.937 per $100 of assessed value, returning $1.7 million to all county property owners. The $297.5 million General Fund budget for FY 2019 reflects an increase of $14.7 million compared to the FY 2018 General Fund budget of $282.8 million.
 HOWARD COUNTYhoward
Ellicott City Moratorium Bill To Be Introduced
Councilman Jon Weinstein is set to introduce a 12 month moratorium on grading and building permits in the Tiber-Hudson Watershed on July 2nd in response to the second devastating flood in Ellicott City in the last two years. Read the bill >>> The MBIA is opposed to this bill, which is very similar to a 9 month Ellicott City moratorium MBIA defeated two years ago. The MBIA believes moratoria are bad public policy with a better solution being to address centuries old issues relating to topography and lack of storm water capacity throughout the watershed.

Legislation to Limit Scenic Road Access to be introduced
Councilman Calvin Ball will introduce legislation generally discouraging new ingress/egress from scenic roads in Howard County on July 2nd. This legislation requires new scenic road access to be approved by the Planning Board and in some cases, also approved by the Department of Planning and Zoning. MBIA is opposed to this unnecessary legislation. Read the bill >>>
   MONTGOMERY COUNTYmontcoun
County Executive Leggett Vetoes County Council over Stormwater Contracting Process  
On June 1st, County Executive Leggett vetoed the County Council's decision to uphold the current method for awarding contracts for stormwater management projects as part of the capital budget. Currently, the county hires different contractors for each stage of a project; a process Leggett believes is inefficient and costly. The County Executive previously proposed changing the method to enable the hiring of one contractor to design, build and maintain projects that fulfill state-mandated requirements to treat runoff. This is the first time a Montgomery County Executive has used a line-item veto in 25 years.
  PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTYprinceg
Zoning Rewrite Work Sessions
The Prince George's County Council is now considering legislation regarding the rewrite of the county's zoning ordinance. The County Council will host multiple Committees on the Whole Work Sessions on the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite legislation. Here are the following dates and times of the work sessions:
 
July 10, 2018
6:30 pm Review Bills in Lobby
7:00 pm Public Comment in Council Hearing Room
 
July 11, 2018
1:30 pm in Room 2027. Staff and applicable agency comment on CB-14-2018 (COUNTYWIDE SMA process) and CB-13-2018 (Revised Zoning Ordinance) Division 4 (zones) and 5 (uses)
 
July 17, 2018
2:00 pm Review Bills in Room 2027
2:30 pm Public Comment in Room 2027
 
July 19, 2018
10:00 am and Afternoon Session as needed in Room 2027
Staff and applicable comment on CB-13-2018
(revised zoning ordinance), Division 1-3 and 6-8
 
Comprehensive Design Zones - Specific Design Plans - Procedures
The County Council presented CB-27-2018, a bill that clarifies the intent of the Council to authorize the Planning Director to approve minor revisions, limited in scope and nature, as with such authority enacted approved via CB-42-2002, to specific design plans. In 2002, the District Council enacted legislation ("CB-42-2002") to provide authority for the Planning Director to approve certain minor revisions, necessarily limited in scope and nature, for approved Conceptual Site Plans, Detailed Site Plans, and Special Exception Site Plans. In addition, this 2002 legislation authorized certain limited departures from design standard requirements of the Zoning Ordinance, to include signs, parking and loading spaces and facilities, and other structures.
 
2018 Water and Sewer Plan Draft Available
The Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement has released the draft version of the "2018 Water and Sewer Plan" for Prince George's County. This Draft Plan is an update to the 2008 Water and Sewer Plan. DPIE is seeking comments on its contents, which have been prepared in accordance with guidelines established by State regulatory authorities and input from various Bi-County and County agencies. This Draft Plan is being prepared for presentation through the County's legislative process.
If you have any questions concerning the draft plan, please contact Shirley Branch, Water and Sewer Plan Coordinator, at [email protected].
  WICOMICO COUNTYwicomico
Wicomico County Bill No. 2018-05
Wicomico County has revised the operating budget for fiscal 2019 to $150 million. No increases are planned for either real or personal property tax rates. The FY2019 estimated recurring revenue has increased by 5.5% over last year's budget. Council revisions included transferring $500,000 to the school system that will count toward maintenance of effort. This will require the Council to keep the same per-pupil amount to be kept in place in subsequent years. The new budget takes effect on July 1, 2018.
 
Wicomico County Council Proposed Two Charter Amendments
Wicomico County Council has proposed the following two amendments to the Wicomico County Charter: (1) having the initial appointments of deputy directors and the assistant director of administration confirmed by Council and (2) adding a provision that transfers of depreciable capital assets between departments, agencies, or offices can only be done with the recommendation of the Executive and approval by the County Council by resolution. The resolution was tabled and will be on the agenda for the July 3, 2018 meeting.
 
Salisbury City Budget
The Salisbury City Council has approved a $60.9 million budget for fiscal 2019 that maintains the current property tax rate of 98.32 cents per $100 of assessed value, but increases water and sewer rates.
  WORCESTER COUNTYworchester
Onsite Sewage Disposal Systems
Worcester County Commissioners have agreed to administer and enforce onsite sewage disposal system regulations for systems that utilize Best Available Technology (BAT) for nitrogen removal. Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) will award the County $50,000 annually to administer this program in Worcester County.
 
Ocean City Tax Differential
The Mayor and the Town of Ocean City Council has requested a summit on the resort's funding and fire service grants with the Worcester County Commissioners. The date is to be determined. The Town of Ocean City brought suit against the Worcester County Commissioners earlier this year in Circuit Court to force the county to provide some sort of differential. No court date for the case between the resort and county has been set.
 
Opposition to Offshore Wind Turbines Continues in Ocean City
The Mayor and Town of Ocean City Council has turned down a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from US Wind to dedicate a portion of the energy produced by the future wind farms to the town of Ocean City free of charge, or at least at substantially reduced rate. The MOU also included a community benefits package, or investments US Wind would offer to Ocean City to placate the resort on the turbine distance issue. The Mayor told US Wind "Our View is Not for Sale."
JULY 2018
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ACRONYM GLOSSARY
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