Commissioners authorize transfer of private-activity bond allocation to state housing and commerce agencies

St. Mary’s County commissioners on May 13 approved the annual practice of transferring the county’s private-activity bond allocation authority to the Maryland Department of Commerce and to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

Chris Casalemas, director of economic development, explained the allocation process: Commerce notifies counties each year of a non-housing allocation and a housing portion. This year Commerce notified the county of a non-housing allocation of $1,815,824 plus a bonus of $453,956 and a housing allocation of $5,296,100. Casalemas said private-activity bonds have limited county uses (privately owned, publicly used facilities) and that the county typically returns unused non-housing authority to the state.

Casalemas described the benefit of transferring housing allocation to DHCD for use in the Maryland Mortgage Program; he reported that 70 loans totaling more than $20 million were made in St. Mary’s County in 2024 and year-to-date 45 loans totaling over $14 million. Counsel recommended continuing the practice of returning the bond authority to the state; commissioners approved the transfer and authorized the commission president to sign related documents.

The transfers allow DHCD to use state bond authority for mortgage products and down-payment assistance that county residents may access through the Maryland Mortgage Program and related statewide initiatives.