Commissioner’s Public Meeting
Originally Published: December 11, 2022
On Tuesday, the County Commissioners will meet with the St. Mary’s County Delegation to discuss Commissioner & citizen proposed legislation. There were seven proposals submitted.
SUPPORTED:
-Request authority to issue $56 million in public facilities bonds to future budgets. Department of Finance submitted this proposal, which allows the county to borrow money to finance projects.
-Request to amend local laws to extend the termination date of the property transfer tax by four years, from 2024 to 2028. Dept. of Finance requested this; the original termination date was July 1, 2020. This brings in millions of additional revenue dollars for the county.
-Request to amend local laws to allow limited gaming at senior centers. Submitted by the Dept. of Aging based on feedback from citizens wanting to play low-stakes (a few dollars) card games at senior centers.
-Request to amend local laws for Sanitary Districts to update & clarify language. Submitted by Metcom, this is intended to clarify Metcom’s service area coverage & define “new facilities” as any newly built, or existing infrastructure that is renovated, expanded or extended.
NOT SUPPORTED:
-Request to change how County Commissioners are elected from Districts 1, 2, 3, & 4 so they are elected by a plurality of votes from the district they represent rather than at-large votes from the county. Submitted by the St. Mary’s County NAACP. (There was a second request from a private citizen for this same idea).
-Request to change the following offices to non-partisan: Sheriff, States Attorney, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Register of Wills, Judge of the Orphans Court, and Treasurer. This was requested by a private citizen.
Commissioners ask for citizen proposals and forward them to the Delegation without taking a position on them–in other words, not saying they are “For” or “Against”. This year, the Commissioners decided to forward County Government proposals but NOT the citizen submitted ones.
What do you make of their decision? It’s important to make your voice HEARD on Tuesday.
It’s best to show up in person, but you can email your thoughts to csmc@stmaryscountymd.gov
