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David R. Brinkley, Maryland State Delegate.

January 25, 2001 - The Gazette (MD)

Delegation to hear excise tax debate

by Sherry Greenfield
Staff Writer Jan. 25, 2001

Frederick County commissioners, Chamber of Commerce members and other interest groups will descend on Annapolis Friday to plead their case to the county's legislative delegation for a tax on new construction.

Commissioners want the building excise tax -- a tax on the production of a commodity, in this case, space -- to generate revenue for transportation improvements.

Since the county does not have a chartered form of government, any legislative requests must be funneled through the county's delegation of lawmakers. The eight-member coalition of delegates and senators from Frederick meet every Friday during the General Assembly's legislative session.

Last year, the board tried and failed to get authority from the delegation to impose the tax. Frederick County's Chamber of Commerce asked commissioners to try again this year.

Delegation members have said they would take the commissioners' request to referendum so the voters could decide in the 2002 election.

But there is resistance. Del. David Brinkley (R-Dist. 4A) of New Market is against tackling the issue until the delegation's two senators indicate their support. Sen. Timothy Ferguson (R-Dist. 4) of Taylorsville and Sen. Alex X. Mooney (R-Dist. 3) of Frederick have said they oppose any new tax.

But supporters of the taxing authority remain optimistic. "I've always found that we have been well received," said County Commission President David Gray (R).

"It's nice to be singing the same song as the chamber," he said.

But delegation chairwoman Del. Louise Snodgrass (R-Dist. 3) of Middletown predicts some controversy. "That is why we are hearing it separately from the rest of the package," she said.

The other 10 bills on the county's legislative wish list went a bit smoother last Friday. Local lawmakers spent two hours on the items, voting favorably for a majority of the bills.

With no debate, they voted unanimously in favor of making the position of county treasurer a staff job, not an elected post. That request came from Lois Filby (D), the current treasurer. Filby, who is in her sixth year as county treasurer and whose primary responsibilities are to mail out 80,000 property tax bills twice a year and collect all general fund money, wants to stay in the $50,000-a-year position.

She was thrilled Friday with the delegation's vote. "It was definitely the right decision," Filby said.

The delegation debated a bit more, but in the end voted 6-2 in favor of giving the sheriff's position a raise in salary from the current $50,000 to $80,000. That request came from Sheriff Jim Hagy (R), and will go into effect in the next election in 2002.

Hagy makes less annually than 25 of the 331 people he supervises in the sheriff's office and detention center. Those making more than $50,000 include some with ranks as low as sergeant. The proposed $80,000 would make the sheriff the highest paid employee of the department he heads.

Ferguson and Del. Donald Elliott (R-Dist. 4B) of New Windsor voted against the request.

Ferguson supported the salary hike, but wanted the money reduced to $70,000 and not given all in one lump sum. Only two members of the sheriff's office make at least $70,000.

"This has nothing to do with Sheriff Hagy," Ferguson said. "But a $30,000 raise is a lot of money. There are people in Frederick County that don't make $30,000 a year. The reality is this may not go down well with the citizens of Frederick County."

Elliott wanted to raise the sheriff's salary $20,000, in increments of $5,000 a year.

Del. Joseph Bartlett (R-Dist. 3) of Middletown agreed the $80,000 was a lot of money, but voted in favor. " I think if we want to attract high quality candidates we have to raise it," Bartlett said.

Debate also surrounded the vote to grant commissioners authority to sell $43 million in bonds. Only Mooney and Bartlett opposed the measure. Elliott was not present for the vote.

Mooney was concerned when the delegation granted commissioners the authority to sell $90 million in bonds last year.

"Very simply it's like running up a credit card," he said. "We should pay things as we go along. I'm concerned about that. I think we're borrowing too much, and I have hesitations with additional borrowing."

Brinkley, who voted for the bonding, also was concerned. "In 1999, we authorized you $90 million and you said you were not going to ask for anymore," he said. "That's not the case. I have a problem."

County Finance Director Doug Browning said the additional money is needed to cover $100 million in capital improvement projects planned over the next six years. Two-thirds are school related.

Last week's delegation meeting also saw the death of a proposal to eliminate term limits for members of the Frederick County Board of Education. Currently, no school board member can serve for more than two consecutive terms.

Del. C. Sue Hecht (D-Dist. 3) of Frederick agreed with the county commissioners, who sought to get rid of the term limit statute. "The best term limit is an educated voter," she said.

Snodgrass was surprised the bill did not pass. "I thought it was a no-brainier bill and would completely fly by," she said. "Obviously it didn't."

Two motions failed because no one seconded them. Snodgrass attributed the failure to confusion over the wording. She hopes the matter will come up for a vote again.

Snodgrass was happy with Friday's meeting, the delegation's second this session. "I just can't tell you how pleased I am today with how the meeting went," said Snodgrass, who spent last year bickering with Ferguson.

Gray also was pleased with the delegation's response to the entire package. "I feel good," he said. "I think we had a good chance to clarify things."

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Authority: Friends of David R. Brinkley - Sallie M. Brinkley, Treasurer