Public heard on 2018
Adequate-facilities bill one of delegation’s topics for next legislative session
Local residents weighed in this week on proposed legislation that would increase developers’ fees for building on land in areas where schools are overenrolled.
The measure was among several discussed at a meeting Wednesday as members of Howard County’s delegation to the General Assembly previewed 23 local bills they have proposed for the 2018 legislative session, which begins in January.
As proposed, the school bill would double developers’ “facilities surcharge” in areas of the county where schools are enrolled between 110 and 115 percent of rated capacity, and increase the fees by 200 percent in areas where schools are enrolled between 115 and 120 percent.
“Those double and triple fees should be the baseline for what we’re charging for school fees,” said Corina Fisher, who said the county’s adequate public facilities ordinance (APFO) — which aims to ensure county schools and roads keep pace with development — has been insufficient.
At the hearing Wednesday, several parents donned yellow T-shirts to show opposition to what they say is weak APFO legislation that allows too much development, and testified against allowing developers to build in crowded areas.
The delegation’s bill attempts to reach into the contentious APFO issue. Last month members of the County Council voted to update the ordinance to set new benchmarks for declaring some schools “at capacity” — but later discovered their bill had expired by the time they voted for it. The legislation must now be reintroduced to the council in January.
State delegates had a number of questions about the intricacies of the APFO legislation, and expressed a desire to learn more at a forthcoming work session. For instance, Del. Robert L.
Flanagan asked for details about how the county would be affected if the state did not pass the delegation’s bill, and the fees remained unchanged.
Wednesday’s meeting touched on delegation bills that would address county issues ranging from the creation of grants for an Ellicott City Public Arts Project to raising the Howard County sheriff's salary from $94,000 to $145,000 in 2019 and establishing a student loan assistance program for county teachers.
Council members Jon Weinstein, Calvin Ball and Jen Terrasa each testified in support of several pieces of legislation. All three offered support for a bill to allow elderly residents to receive aproperty tax credit if they have lived in Howard County for at least 40 years.
The current tax credit requires individuals to have lived in the same residence for that time period; Weinstein testified that the new legislation
The measure was among several discussed at a meeting Wednesday as members of Howard County’s delegation to the General Assembly previewed 23 local bills they have proposed for the 2018 legislative session, which begins in January.
As proposed, the school bill would double developers’ “facilities surcharge” in areas of the county where schools are enrolled between 110 and 115 percent of rated capacity, and increase the fees by 200 percent in areas where schools are enrolled between 115 and 120 percent.
“Those double and triple fees should be the baseline for what we’re charging for school fees,” said Corina Fisher, who said the county’s adequate public facilities ordinance (APFO) — which aims to ensure county schools and roads keep pace with development — has been insufficient.
At the hearing Wednesday, several parents donned yellow T-shirts to show opposition to what they say is weak APFO legislation that allows too much development, and testified against allowing developers to build in crowded areas.
The delegation’s bill attempts to reach into the contentious APFO issue. Last month members of the County Council voted to update the ordinance to set new benchmarks for declaring some schools “at capacity” — but later discovered their bill had expired by the time they voted for it. The legislation must now be reintroduced to the council in January.
State delegates had a number of questions about the intricacies of the APFO legislation, and expressed a desire to learn more at a forthcoming work session. For instance, Del. Robert L.
Flanagan asked for details about how the county would be affected if the state did not pass the delegation’s bill, and the fees remained unchanged.
Wednesday’s meeting touched on delegation bills that would address county issues ranging from the creation of grants for an Ellicott City Public Arts Project to raising the Howard County sheriff's salary from $94,000 to $145,000 in 2019 and establishing a student loan assistance program for county teachers.
Council members Jon Weinstein, Calvin Ball and Jen Terrasa each testified in support of several pieces of legislation. All three offered support for a bill to allow elderly residents to receive aproperty tax credit if they have lived in Howard County for at least 40 years.
The current tax credit requires individuals to have lived in the same residence for that time period; Weinstein testified that the new legislation
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