By Len Lazarick | Maryland Reporter
ANNAPOLIS — County officials across Maryland are gearing up to push back against Gov. Martin O’Malley‘s policies that have cut state aid to the counties, piled on teacher pension costs with little say in how the pension system is run, and taken away local control over land use decisions.
“County governments have taken the deepest cuts of any part of the state’s budget during the Great Recession,” according to the the Maryland Association of Counties‘ position memo.
“Local governments have lost some $1.8 billion in state support since Fiscal Year 2010, affecting nearly every essential local service: roads and bridges; law enforcement; health departments; and jails.
“Temporary cuts have been made permanent or extended with each budget cycle, and state administrative costs have been shifted to counties without any county control.
“In addition to aid reductions and cost shifts, the state’s recent teacher pension shift sends to counties massive new costs that lie completely outside the county government’s management.”
Read the complete story at Maryland Reporter.
