[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6626408,"mediaKeyId","2753573-b187d12e72fd87389f7f924da3bc4c95","parentId",2753573,"title","Councilmember seeks one-time use of excess surplus for school deferred maintenance in CB20","audioSeconds",432,"startMs",7713000,"endMs",8145000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2753573-b187d12e72fd87389f7f924da3bc4c95&start=7713&end=8145","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2753573-b187d12e72fd87389f7f924da3bc4c95/thumbnail_7713000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6626408/Howard-County/Maryland/Councilmember-seeks-one-time-use-of-excess-surplus-for-school-deferred-maintenance-in-CB20","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6626408-57de3225f95e0ecb45cad67a7d010eba/orig.mp4?Expires=1771145804&Signature=EI2lmcOQDZPASXGsTOrASSnajTaZ8g4iCEaJFsllFyMf1Y1gV7~6EyQzhbruaGZ0~rAgFvlhE26PsC3xYiRUKDEIVHctpYofVxphJ14WuGj~TXlkBQuxmojKXgmJe3hgmjcw5hvWQs0cCumBMPtzjlPjkXpE2nUAbWTxLK5-l12i0PmZ~8qkWPAngZSjiwjiEKbhTx2jdBMzriLwQJsuVZGdHCwdx1NFK0lBhwfII4vP4UsOL0W-iG5G9EZRzZ4Gs3CQWC92mkydSJG~DKEMc7vBxZ8mAGFAZ4fDM1yHmX6tEHmluK99Y3d5yTvuFak5HPAYfAOU3cVNedebd4xraQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Howard","date","2025-03-24T00:00:00Z","article","Councilmember introduced CB20 at the Howard County Council work session as a proposal to allocate some portion of the county's unassigned fund balance toward deferred capital maintenance needs of the public schools.

The sponsor framed the bill as a targeted, one-year measure to capture excess surplus already shown in the county's audited financial statements and direct it to school deferred-maintenance projects that the schools and the council have identified as high priority. The sponsoring member pointed to the FY24 audited general-fund balance sheet showing an \"unassigned\" balance that staff and auditors report as available for one-time uses and asked the council to consider $36.5 million of that balance for school maintenance needs.

Finance staff and the county's external-audit representative explained how fund-balance accounting and the charter interact. Rafael Healy, director of finance, described the four fund-balance categories in government accounting (nonspendable, restricted, committed and assigned) and said assignments for specific one-time uses are normally made as part of the executive's budget process. Healy cautioned that the balance sheet is a point-in-time snapshot: the unassigned figure reported at the end of FY24 includes prior-year activity and the executive has already assigned portions of the fund balance for FY25 and FY26 spending in some cases.

Councilmembers and staff discussed timing constraints and legal mechanics. Office of Law and budget staff said that the normal budget and capital-appropriation process starts with the Board of Education's capital request, then the county executive includes or adjusts funding in the executive budget, and the council may restore reductions or change appropriations during its review. Several councilmembers urged a narrowly tailored approach to avoid disrupting the county's reserves or credit-rating expectations; staff noted rating agencies watch reserve levels and that using too large a share of one-time funds can create future operational risk.

Participants said practical next steps would include clarity about which portion (if any) of the unassigned FY24 balance remains available after executive assignments, and whether the Board of Education would revise its capital request to reflect the council's intent. Legal staff observed the bill, as drafted, would signal to the school board that the council desired a deferred-maintenance allocation; however, board and executive agreement would still be necessary to appropriate and disburse funds.

No formal council vote on CB20 occurred in the work session. Councilmembers asked for additional detail and coordination steps, including: up-to-date FY25 midyear numbers showing current unassigned fund balance and assigned uses; a clear list of deferred-maintenance priorities from the Board of Education; and legal review on whether an ordinance or charter amendment would be needed for repeated or ongoing redirection of unassigned fund balance.

Background: Under government accounting standards and the county charter, unassigned fund balance at fiscal year close can be used for one-time expenditures, subject to council appropriation after the executive proposes a budget. CB20 would aim to direct one-year excess funds to school deferred-maintenance projects, but council members and staff flagged timing, assignment and intergovernmental steps that would be needed for the approach to be effective.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Howard - Legislative Work Session - Mar 24, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Councilmember introduced CB20 to direct a portion of the county's unassigned fund balance toward school deferred maintenance; the work session discussion focused on accounting categories, timing, and whether the request would change ordinary budget and board-of-education processes.","taxTitle","Howard County, Maryland","taxId",13634,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6626412,"Council debates targeted TOD incentives, school impacts and disability-income units in CB18",2469,2931000,5400000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2753573-b187d12e72fd87389f7f924da3bc4c95&start=2931&end=5400","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2753573-b187d12e72fd87389f7f924da3bc4c95/thumbnail_2931000.jpg","/articles/6626412/Howard-County/Maryland/Council-debates-targeted-TOD-incentives-school-impacts-and-disability-income-units-in-CB18","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6626412-fe301cb548181a4395787078ad454166/orig.mp4?Expires=1771145804&Signature=HaoeuwQu9vOBpyP25FO3Ah3URd-exiY5ipzo3ql-Fg74TvKXj5k83mEbsRPrqv6hn9mNG-K2mAmPaA~SaN1wdZIEgZf2BiD~ebRT0NeBYp-mi19g2nrFfMii3B9vYNWh8KdpSLSrVXQxsdLgLnMSEgf~IUWdPZeP7in7HBnAKDKxxMCiIA7NriDj6UaHChduqNy~c-4MBzi1Mx7GM~K6SDGxBROC0UdpypEcYGyjp2n6Cgmrh9pYQAfKmzFZEL8fNez8NmTj4K79VmbvDRrbbk~j-HcBqsNorARJ4XZlXJmBNlmmTSIVih04VY6w3guXH2kwsferHdoNYzwNGxKfEw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Howard County Councilmembers spent a large portion of the work session on CB18, a bill that would create a targeted incentive structure for transit-oriented development (TOD) parcels in three mapped areas and allow a pilot tax-abatement arrangement tied to providing moderate-income housing units (MIHUs) and disability-income housing units (DIHUs).

Sponsor Councilmember Christiana Rigby said the bill is intentionally limited to three locally defined TOD areas (Laurel, Annapolis Junction and the Dorsey corridor) and to station locations existing now rather than speculative future stations. The bill would permit the Department of Housing and Community Development to enter a pilot agreement with qualifying developers who provide a defined mix of affordable units and disability-income housing in exchange for tax relief and APFO (adequate public facilities ordinance) relief within the mapped TOD boundaries.

Supporters and staff said the intent is to increase housing production in places the county identified in HOCO by Design while reducing school-surcharge and other development disincentives that make some TOD projects infeasible. \"If we want things to change, then we need to change how we do things,\" Rigby said, arguing that a targeted pilot could produce actual units where the current MIHU approach has had limited results.

Council members and staff probed several technical and policy concerns: how the incentives would affect projects already in the planning pipeline; whether the bill would apply retroactively to projects that have sketch plans or SDPs under review; how many DIHU units would be created (the program to date has one DIHU unit countywide); what the maximum rents for DIHUs would be; the proximity and actual pedestrian access from proposed projects to MARC stations; and how student-yield rates vary by housing type.

Department of Housing and Community Development staff provided published DIHU rents for Howard County (example values given by staff: studio $493, 1-bedroom $529, 2-bedroom $634, 3-bedroom $733, 4-bedroom $818) and confirmed DIHUs are priced to county adjusted-median-income levels and published twice yearly. Planning staff displayed maps of the three TOD areas and a parcel-level breakdown of the top property owners inside TOD zones.

School-system and planning analysis reported that newer mid-rise, elevator-served apartment complexes tend to have lower pupil yields than single-family housing or older garden-style apartments. County planning staff and the school-system analyst said sample apartment projects in the county had yields as low as 0.01 to 0.06 pupils per unit in some downtown-style projects, while countywide averages for apartments were higher. Officials emphasized that pupil yield largely reflects bedrooms-per-unit mixes and rent levels.

Council members also questioned whether APFO exemptions and other incentives would inadvertently encourage projects that increase school overcrowding in some neighborhoods. Several members noted that parts of the Dorsey/Laurel area already have schools at or above capacity and that some projects are in the schools waiting bin; others suggested a sunset review for any pilot and insisted on stronger baseline commitments from developers if incentives are granted.

No vote was taken on CB18 at the work session. Councilmembers asked staff for follow-up items including: the exact project list and status of pipeline TOD projects (which parcels are in the schools wait bin and how many failures/passes they have recorded), the bedroom mix and proposed DIHU counts for pilot projects, clearer definitions distinguishing \"stream stabilization\" language versus other restoration terms when relevant, and options for a sunset or review clause and performance guarantees for DIHU provision.

Background: CB18 would apply only to locally mapped TOD areas and not to the broader state TOD framework; it contemplates a pilot mechanism to lower development costs in exchange for a guaranteed affordable-housing mix and DIHUs. The council discussed trade-offs among housing supply goals, school impacts under APFO, and the predictability developers seek during sketch-plan and site-plan stages.","Council members discussed CB18, a bill focused on limited transit-oriented development (TOD) zones, an incentive pilot for moderate-income and disability-income housing units, school-capacity impacts and how APFO and development timing would affect projects in the pipeline.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6626416,"Howard County students urge council to curb stream restorations in MS4 financial-assurance plan",2755,89000,2844000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2753573-b187d12e72fd87389f7f924da3bc4c95&start=89&end=2844","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2753573-b187d12e72fd87389f7f924da3bc4c95/thumbnail_89000.jpg","/articles/6626416/Howard-County/Maryland/Howard-County-students-urge-council-to-curb-stream-restorations-in-MS4-financial-assurance-plan","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6626416-3e86768d9c22ad0082f460d1bd0b445b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771145804&Signature=O5SdkcR3UHLOtyrZ2wx8tQlzLHCZWgnNHc-qA6008VbcIypswd8wNmXHHOXfRTYELlxNZiAVsfcYotJY7UIK12it~xtKrtk6ahYYOMr4KAnSwapClQNdOGOUvNQWj4D7Fob-NWSdHa5NOmyXWOkUDlfVJeRsOUrTbgsdJBqXAho3X55ZkTctEJeTA9xpzyBO710KJlH4RcfmdnIID2DxWR0N74J7hHuBux5m85tceKCi4ICsuC0UAb4HCqk9f0oKphCb8C5OOYFO4Jl6wMPqUno0y9-o7UFDdvM3B4gQTOp6SRhKUUcnZ0bWj~XRYb8j~oYwJ5vGsCXuSD315AnZJA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Middle school students told the Howard County Council on Monday that the county should limit the use of stream restorations in its MS4/NPDES financial-assurance plan and focus on upland, out-of-stream stormwater management.

The students, from an environmental seminar led by teacher Robin Page, presented photos, carbon-storage claims and neighborhood examples and urged the council to reduce the share of MS4 compliance work delivered as stream restorations and in-stream channel work. \"We are the future of Howard County. Save our dreams,\" said Paige, a student presenter.

The students argued that stream restorations remove mature trees, compact soil with heavy machinery, reduce biodiversity and produce planted streambanks that they said are less effective than preserving existing wetlands and trees. They proposed using more upland best-management practices (BMPs) such as rain gardens, bioretention areas, and street-tree canopy strategies and asked the county to require public notice and hearings before permitting individual stream-restoration projects.

County staff briefed council members that the financial-assurance plan is a planning document timed to the state MS4 permit cycle and is submitted to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to show the county's ability to meet obligations over upcoming permit periods. \"The primary driver is the permit period and when we need to get it into the state,\" said Mark DeLuca, a staff member involved in the MS4 program, explaining why a draft appears on the council's schedule earlier than some members would prefer.

DeLuca and staff described the draft plan as flexible: projects listed for credit can be swapped during the permit period and each proposed project typically goes through concept-stage public meetings (often two or three) before final design or construction. He emphasized that some planned credits come from pond repair and maintenance work and other non-stream activities as well as stream-related projects.

Council members pressed staff on several counts: a slide the students showed that listed Howard County at 72% of credits coming from stream restoration in 2023; a line in a departmental memo that uses the term \"stream stabilization\" instead of \"stream restoration\"; and a figure in the county's FY 2024 annual update indicating the county was roughly 97.2% complete toward its impervious-acre restoration requirement. DeLuca said the county completed more construction during the prior permit period than many peers and that carryover credits and construction timing help explain high completion percentages.

Several council members asked staff to separate planned spending on stream restorations from other categories in the financial-assurance documents so the council can see what share of funds and effort goes to stream work versus upland BMPs. One council member asked whether the county could set an upper limit on the portion of permit credit achieved through stream restorations for the remainder of the current permit, suggesting 20% as a possible cap; DeLuca said he could not commit to a change in the meeting but said staff would consider project swaps and noted state enforcement and permit requirements were constraints.

The exchange closed with staff reiterating that: (1) the draft financial-assurance plan is timed to meet MDE and MS4 permit deadlines; (2) projects listed are at concept or planning stages and can change after public meetings; and (3) the county uses a mix of practices, including pond repairs, inlet cleaning and street sweeping, to meet permit goals.

The council did not vote on CR61 during the work session. Council members asked staff for follow-up materials showing (a) how much of prior and proposed spending was allocated specifically to stream restorations; (b) the project list with current status (planning vs. construction); and (c) the county's public-notice and design-stage meeting schedule for each listed project.

Paige and the student group also requested that the county notify residents before applying for MS4/NPDES permit renewals and hold public hearings on individual stream projects before permit applications are submitted to MDE.

Background: MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) and NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit programs require local jurisdictions to implement stormwater controls and document how they will meet pollutant-reduction goals. Local financial-assurance plans show how jurisdictions expect to fund required work during permit cycles.

The council moved on to other agenda items after the discussion; no formal action was recorded on the resolution during the work session.","Middle school environmental science students and county staff debated the role of stream restorations in Howard County's MS4/NPDES financial-assurance plan, with students calling for fewer in-stream projects and staff saying the draft plan is a planning document shaped by state permit timing and public review.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Councilmember seeks one-time use of excess surplus for school deferred maintenance in CB20

Council debates targeted TOD incentives, school impacts and disability-income units in CB18

Howard County students urge council to curb stream restorations in MS4 financial-assurance plan