October 16th, 2015 by WCBC Radio
Following a meeting with Maryland’s budget secretary earlier this month, State Senator George Edwards hopes to see support from the Hogan administration for a bill he pushed for last year designed to create a revenue stream to for county governments resulting from state owned land. State owned land in Allegany and Garrett counties is neither on the tax rolls or could be used for development or industry. Edward’s plan proposes a way to compensate counties for the limitations they face because of the high proportion of land owned by the state. While the state’s two western most counties are entitled to some compensation from revenue the state land generates, the amount of that revenue is inconsistent and has plunged over the years. The senator hopes to stabilize the income by introducing legislation that creates a set fee for the state to pay to counties to compensate for the control of the land. He says the current system simply isn’t fair to the counties…
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