Comes now Wicomico County Taxpayers advocacy group – VOICE – (VOTERS OPPOSED TO INCREASED COUNTY EXPENDITURES) – and hereby cites specific reasons for opposing the proposed legislation.
Reasons against the Proposed Legislation:
1. The legislation being proposed circumvents the ‘express will of the people’ as the Wicomico County Revenue Cap charter amendment was adopted through a public referendum whereby approximately 64% of the voters approved the revenue cap limitation.
2. The legislation being proposed will severely penalize the Wicomico Co. Council in their ability to fund other governmental entities including: the Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, Department of Corrections, Planning & Zoning, Building Inspections, Health Department, Transportation Department, and other public entities.
3. The legislation being proposed unjustly discriminates by giving priority to the County’s education budget over other public entities as outlined in item 2 above.
4. The legislation being proposed will preclude the Wicomico County Council, and, the elected County Executive to have autonomy to make their own funding decisions without the heavy-handed, mandated spending formulas imposed from the State. Moreover the bill is vague and unconstitutional inasmuch as it allows those who administer the Board of Education budget so much discretion that administrators will severely impair the County Council and County Executive’s ability to administer their office.
5. The legislation being proposed is illegal in that it is being sponsored as an EMERGENCY BILL. A record of the Bill filing reveals that HB-1412 was filed and First Read on 02/27/12, Re-referred to Ways and Means & Appropriations committee on 02/28, and that the hearing Notice was then posted sometime on 02/29/12 – just 1 day before the time of the scheduled meeting. The scheduled hearing does not give the general public adequate notice – and thus is illegal in that the sponsors intent is to try and ‘ramrod’ the bill through without adequate public input.
For all of the above cited reasons our organization respectfully request that the Maryland House Ways & Means and Appropriations Committees to reject the legislation being proposed.
Sincerely,
Johnnie Miller
New Posts to fall below.
16 comments:
I believe that education should take priority over all other county funding entities.
Well put, Mr. Miller. Wicomico's BOE is out of control and must be taken to task!
This whole legislative session has been an absolute disaster - particularly with gay rights, budgeting, the whole gambit.
Our State is in absolute State of confusion!
Education is important. So when your child is thrown up against the wall, by the lockers at his/her local high school by a crazed student and there is no police available to save his/her life because there is no money because it went to pad the pockets of the admisnistrators, dont try to sue the school system.
10:45am More money doesn't mean better education. If all the money went to education my guess would be we would have no deputies on the streets, oh, and we wouldn't have any drivable roads, no firemen to keep us safe, etc. I could go on and on, but with your statement we would have money in education for the top dogs to travel abroad, eat at places I could only dream about , and receive big salaries and pensions.
What is happening to our Country.
It seems as though everything is going to pot. What's next - tax my grass, lawnmower, gravel, laundry. When will they get the message that the public has had enough!
11:31
Great minds think alike!
11:31, this talk about "the top dogs" at the BOE living like kings would apply to only a few, and I'm not sure it's at all accurate. I'm thinking about the couple of thousand (I don't know how many exactly) teachers who go to work everyday to educate your children and my grandchildren. I am a retired teacher, so I am admittedly biased. While my pension is sufficient to get me through my "elder years," I never got rich in teaching. Teachers deserve whatever they can get, certainly with what they face these days in the classroom, compounded by the negative attitudes we see on this and other blogs about them.
IM THANKFUL WE HAVE PEOPLE LIKE JONNIE MILLER AND OTHERS TO FIGHT FOR US!
When you want to brainwash the population, what better way to start than in the schools.
Captive audience. Punishment for not giving the 'correct' answers.
Most all of the educators I know live in upper scale neighborhoods like Fox Chase, Deere Harbor.
So I don't want to hear any belly aching that they aren't making it. They get paid a plenty for what they do.
I do alot more for far less than the teachers receive.
11:33 AM, The next thing they are going to tax is the air.
To 11:33 Taxing the Air?
They have already done that too - Carbon Credits. I wouldn't put nothing past this democratically controlled legislature. Basically - they have done the same thing that Pelosi did with the Health Care Bill - First we have to pass it so that we can read what's in it.
BS! Plain & Simple.
Check out the many top dogs and their salaries. Maybe Joe can publish that.
10:45 remember that when you are mugged or need an ambulance or a firefighter. Local government has multiple priorities .nearly 50 % of our budget is already dedicated to education .whenis enough enough?
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS WE WANT SCHOOL VOUCHERS ON THE BALLLOT NOW>> WE WANT THE POWER TO EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN THE MONEY WILL MOVE TO INSTITUTIONS THAT EDUCATE AND NOT INDOCTERNATE.. THAT IS THE SOLUTION..every gets to fund their school of choice
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