“I’m not satisfied,” Ulman said. “Too many strong communities have fallen prey to complacency and watched as the times passed by. I will not allow that to happen here in Howard County.

“We must seize this moment and remake our region as the model for the 21st century’s innovation economy,” he added.

The beginning of Ulman’s speech, which was delivered Thursday afternoon before Chamber of Commerce members at a luncheon held at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, harped on the “innovation economy” and what Howard is doing and can be doing to create jobs and opportunities.

Howard County, Ulman said, has a wealth of resources and bright people.

“Our opportunity, and the one we must commit ourselves to seizing, is creating an environment where the big ideas that surface are nurtured, supported and given the resources they need to become the next big thing in the marketplace,” he said.

Ulman noted the recent creation of the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, an arm of the Howard County Economic Development Authority that he said “will wrap resources around entrepreneurs and provide the road map from innovation to commercialization.”

However, Ulman said Howard County cannot transform the economy alone. He talked about the importance of regionalism, providing the Inter-County Broadband Network project as an example.

“Fast, reliable and affordable broadband is as critical to the 21st century economy as the electrical grid and interstate highway system were to the 20th century economy,” Ulman said.

The first half of the speech really resonated with the audience full of business leaders.

“It was positive,” said Mark Cissell, who is the president and CEO of a public accounting and consulting firm. “It’s good to know that our (local) economy is still thriving in a rather dismal (national) economy.”

Cissell agreed with Ulman about the importance of job creation in the county.

“That’s why we spend 64 cents of every dollar on education,” Cissell said, repeating a fact Ulman mentioned in his speech. “Education leads to jobs.”

After listening to Ulman’s speech, Randy Gartner, who works for a marketing firm, said: “Ken is a great example of enthusiastic leadership, and it’s contagious.

“It’s also motivating because if he’s starting all these initiatives, so could we,” he added. “We’re looking for ways of bringing that innovation.”

Accomplishments

Ulman also talked about how important it is for Howard to continue to provide great schools, safe neighborhoods and a high quality of life. He said the economy and continuous cuts in state assistance — from $30 million in state aid (not including aid for the school system) in 2007 when Ulman took office to $4 million this past year — make it difficult to sustain Howard’s quality of life.

“And now the state wants to send Howard County a bill for $17 million to cover the costs of teacher pensions,” Ulman said. “If lawmakers in Annapolis fail to fight against this shift, the progress we have made here will be in serious jeopardy.”

After the sour note about state assistance, Ulman went on to conclude his speech by listing all the county has accomplished in the past year.

His mention of Superintendent Sydney Cousin, who is retiring this year, as “the best superintendent in the country” and police officer Nick Bingham and firefighter Josh Angelo, who helped citizens caught in the flood currents from Tropical Storm Lee, as “hometown heroes” drew standing ovations.

Ulman also touted the county’s environmental efforts, including the 2,000 solar panels that help power Worthington Elementary School and the county’s food scraps recycling pilot program. He announced that the county’s fleet of hybrid vehicles has grown with two new, all-electric vehicles that went into service on Thursday.

Another announcement Ulman made is that next month the county will open the first part Blandair Park in Columbia, which will include three synthetic turf fields, a large playground and a picnic area.

After the speech, County Council member Greg Fox, a Fulton Republican, said Ulman “didn’t really tell us anything new or exciting.

“I think it would have been nice to hear a little bit more about where we stand financially,” Fox added.

Council chairwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a Columbia Democrat, said Ulman “speaks very honestly about the leadership role (Howard County) has in several different areas.”

However, she noted she is worried about what he said regarding the possible teacher pension shift.

“I don’t think the governor has stopped to think about the ramification it will have on county budgets,” Sigaty said.

By Lindsey McPherson, lmcpherson@patuxent.com

The Jan. 20 editorial “Mr. O’Malley’s bold budget” praised the proposal by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) to shift the obligations for teachers’ pensions to local governments as “courageous.” It would, The Post wrote, “restore some balance” by creating an incentive for localities to rein in teacher salaries and thus retirement costs. Sadly, the proposal does no such thing.

In Maryland, we operate under a well-intentioned but often dysfunctional system for paying for our top-ranked public schools. Teacher salaries are negotiated by school boards, which are then in charge of writing the education budget. The minimum amount of that budget is set by state law. But school boards have no taxing authority in Maryland. So school budgets are passed on to county governments for funding.

This is a problem, and the governor’s plan exacerbates it. Under his proposal, half the cost for teachers’ pensions would be passed on to county governments — not to school systems. The distinction is important. The shift would create enormous pressures on human services, road maintenance, police protection and everything else that local government does.

While I oppose shifting teachers’ pensions, the governor’s proposal has opened an opportunity for much-needed discussion. We need to create an incentive-based system so that school boards look for savings in conjunction with county governments. In Howard County, we have produced savings by eliminating our print shop and cable TV studio, among other things. School boards can do the same, and counties can be the source of that savings, through consolidation. As a lifelong supporter of public education, I’ll be backing legislation during the General Assembly session to accomplish this.

Applicants should send a resume and a brief letter explaining why they want to serve on the Board to: Howard County Government, Department of County Administration, Attn: Susan Smith-Bauk, 3430 Courthouse Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043. The names of eligible applicants will be submitted to the County Executive for approval and then to the County Council for confirmation.

Board members serve five year terms and are responsible for reviewing the Office of Consumer Affairs programs, holding public hearings as deemed necessary and making recommendations to the Office on how it may better carry out its duties. The Board is composed of seven voting members, with at least two members representing consumer interest group, at least two members representing a business interest group and at least one member representing an economically disadvantaged group.

As part of the Department of Citizen Services, the Office of Consumer Affairs provides consumer information, assists in resolving consumer-merchant disputes and enforces Howard County consumer protection laws.

For more information the Consumer Affairs Advisory Board, visit www.howardcountymd.gov/consumeraffairsadvisoryboard.htm or call the Office of Consumer Affairs at 410-313-6420.

As part of a plan to address Maryland’s $1 billion budget shortfall, O’Malley will propose a groundbreaking shift of teacher pension costs from the state to local governments, legislative sources said Tuesday.

The governor’s budget proposal, which must be approved by the General Assembly, also will include spending cuts to Medicaid as well as higher income taxes for the top 20 percent of Marylanders by phasing out exemptions and deductions, the sources said.

In addition, O’Malley will propose collecting sales taxes on some purchases from online retailers that don’t impose the levy now and taxing cigars at the same higher rate as cigarettes.

Some details of the plan emerged after legislative leaders and others were briefed Tuesday.

The most significant change would be a sharing of the burden for paying the retirement costs of public school teachers between the state and local jurisdictions — the 23 counties and Baltimore City. Since the pension system’s inception, those costs have been borne by taxpayers at the state level. Changing that system would put added pressure on the counties and city to raise taxes — or to hold down teacher salary costs.

The change is expected to save the state an estimated $240 million the first year by shifting costs to the counties — an amount that is expected to increase over time. The figure effectively comes from shifting half of pension costs for teachers to the counties but shifting half of teacher Social Security costs to the state. Currently, the state pays about $955 million a year to cover the full cost of teacher pensions, and it pays none of their Social Security costs.

The General Assembly will spend much of the next 21/2 months considering changes to the governor’s plan, but Democratic leaders reacted positively Tuesday. House Speaker Michael E. Busch called the pension plan a “balanced proposal by the governor.” Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said the governor “has made some very bold decisions.”

But some county leaders were dismayed after being briefed by the governor late Tuesday afternoon.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, a Democrat whose county is facing a budget shortfall of more than $100 million, called the teacher pension proposal a “non-starter.”

“The shift is not acceptable,” he said. “The mechanisms to soften the blow are, I think, insufficient. I’m not prepared to accept it.”

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman noted that O’Malley didn’t propose a transfer of teacher pension costs during his first five years as governor.

“I think he understands the impact is very difficult. I’m disappointed that there’s going to be a proposal to shift the burden to counties because I don’t think we’re in any better position to be able to afford it than the state is,” said Ulman, a Democrat.

Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold, a Republican who was not briefed by O’Malley, derided the governor’s plan to shift teacher pension costs to the counties, calling it a “heavy burden” that would make it “extremely challenging” to uphold Leopold’s plan to eliminate furloughs for county employees in his next budget.

“Essentially the state is asking the counties to bail it out,” said Leopold, who has furloughed county employees for the last two years. “They want to set the rules and pass the bill to the counties.”

The Senate GOP caucus has long called for the pension burden to be moved to the counties, a point Sen. David Brinkley noted Tuesday. “I’m glad he’s coming around to our plan,” he said.

But a House Republican leader objected to the tax provisions in the package.

“We should really be focused on reducing our spending, and we should be focused on the economy, business and jobs. And from what I know so far this budget seems to be very contradictory to that,” said Eastern Shore Del. Jeanne Haddaway-Riccio, the minority whip. “Obviously it is going to be a concern when you make changes that affect business and taxpayers.”

If lawmakers were dismayed by some provisions, they were relieved by some things that are not in the plan. Despite O’Malley’s musings last week about the advantages of a sales tax increase, he will make no such proposal, officials said. While some individuals’ tax payments may go up, rates themselves will not be touched. Nor will the budget rely on transfers from the Transportation Trust Fund or an increase in the state property tax, sources said.

“This is really a crippling blow to our local budget,” said County Executive Ken Ulman, a Democrat, noting that the proposal would cost Howard County $16 million. “We’re sending a message to the County Council and all our department heads that this throws all our budget planning up in the air.”

He called the proposal “the worst deal that could have been proposed.”

O’Malley’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal, which must be approved by the General Assembly, aims to reduce the state’s projected $1.1 billion deficit by $656 million. One of the largest and “most controversial” reductions O’Malley is proposing is shifting $239 million in teachers’ retirement costs to the counties.

“Our proposal would require local jurisdictions to pay 50 percent of the combined cost of (teachers’) social security, which the counties are already (fully) covering, and other teachers’ retirement costs, which the state is currently paying,” he said. Currently, counties pay one-third of the total retirement costs.

O’Malley explained the rationalization for shifting teachers’ retirement costs at a budget presentation for reporters Wednesday, Jan. 18.

“I have become convinced that some better sharing of that responsibility is in order, primarily because the counties are much more closer to the negotiation table than the state is,” he said.

But Ulman rejected that argument.

“It’s just not true; we’re not at the negotiation table,” he said. Ulman explained that the Board of Education negotiates contracts with the teachers’ union and “they send me a bill.”

Howard County Education Association President Paul Lemle said O’Malley’s proposal, if approved, probably would result in teachers’ contracts that do not include cost-of-living or salary adjustments, as well as other unintended consequences.

“You don’t recruit and retain good educators by cutting their pay and benefits,” he said.

So far, O’Malley’s proposal is proving to be a tough pill to swallow for state lawmakers, too.

“I’m going to have to be really convinced,” said Del. Guy Guzzone, a Columbia Democrat who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for vetting O’Malley’s budget plan before sending it to the House floor.

Del. Gail Bates, a West Friendship Republican who also sits on the Appropriations Committee, recalled that when teachers’ social security costs where shifted to local jurisdictions years ago it was “devastating for the counties.”

She said O’Malley’s proposal could have the same effect.

What will likely be one of the deciding factors for some legislators is whether the counties can count the pension costs toward “maintenance of effort,” the state-mandated requirement that school systems must budget as much per-pupil funding as they did the previous year.

“Unless you make it part of maintenance of effort, you’re going to start cutting other services and you’re going to force the locals to raise taxes,” Bates said.

O’Malley said maintenance of effort is “one of the big variables that we still have to work out.” He noted concerns about counties taking money out of the school system budgets because then “we’re not protecting the priority of education.”

Ulman, however, doesn’t see it that way. More than half of the county budget goes toward meeting the maintenance of effort requirement and if the teacher pension costs cannot be included in that, he said, “it gives me very little leeway.”

One of the problems is education spending varies widely across the state. Howard County, Ulman said, has consistently been number one in “local effort” — the portion of funding the county is contributing to the school system compared to the portion of funding coming from the state.

Ulman said Howard County asks its residents to pay the maximum piggy-back rate on income tax to help pay for quality of life services like education.

“Other counties have clearly not asked their citizens to chip in,” he said.

“Some counties provide minimal funding for whatever reason,” Guzzone agreed.”It’s not fair for those differences not to be taken into account.”

Asked if raising taxes or fees is something the county is looking at as a way absorb the cost, Ulman said: “We have very few options, but I think we have to keep everything on the table through this discussion.”

Donations made from 15 counties across Maryland show Ulman’s support is broad-based and diverse. Of the more than 1500 donations made to Ulman’s campaign this past

year, nearly 1200–two-thirds–come from the Baltimore region.  Ulman’s support at home has not wavered–thirty-eight percent of Ulman’s contributions came from within Howard County, where he was re-elected by a wide margin in November of 2010.

“I’m heartened that residents from across Maryland recognize the outstanding job we’re doing in Howard County,” Ulman said. “We have delivered on our promise of

innovation in education and job creation, strong fiscal management, environmental stewardship and quality services, and these numbers indicate people have noticed.”

Ulman, 37, was first elected County Executive in 2006. In the past five years the County has won several national awards, including being named the 2^nd Best Place to Live in

America by Money Magazine. In 2011 Ulman was named Regional Visionary of the Year by the Greater Baltimore Council and Innovator of the Year by the Daily Record.

For further information on this topic or interview inquiries, please contact Rachael Rice at (410) 218-1964

Ulman is term-limited as county executive and, therefore, has to look for a new job three years from now. He’s got a good head start, having raised $1 million between Jan. 13, 2011 and Jan. 11, 2012.

Annual campaign finance reports were due Wednesday, Jan. 18.

Over the past year, Ulman has received 1,500 donations to his campaign, coming from donors in 15 counties across the state, according to a news release from Rice Consulting LLC, a campaign fundraising consulting firm that represents Ulman as well as other Maryland politicians.

Despite support across the state, particularly the Baltimore metropolitan region, Ulman’s largest support came from his loyal Howard County supporters — 679 donations amounting to slightly more than $405,000.

Ulman’s fundraising efforts are on par with — and in some cases exceeding — other Maryland Democrats who have been named as potential 2014 gubernatorial candidates.

Attorney General Doug Gansler has raised $1.25 million over the past year. His nearly $4.1 million cash on hand is explained by the nearly $3 million he had reported in January 2011 after running unopposed in the 2010 primary and general elections.

Comptroller Peter Franchot reports having raised nearly $630,000 in 12 months, which brings his total cash on hand to slightly more than $1 million.

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown’s report was not posted as of 10 p.m. Wednesday.

The Howard County site will offer free tax assistance preparation and free electronic filing to most taxpayers who earned up to $49,000 in 2011. Individuals who choose to take advantage of the e-file program will receive their refunds in half-the-time compared to returns filed on paper — even faster, when tax refunds are deposited directly into a bank account.

Through the opening of this pilot site, we take another step forward to making and keeping all Howard County residents self sufficient. Working families who might otherwise pay hundreds of dollars for tax preparation and electronic filing can now use those funds to pay bills, weatherize their homes or save for their futures.

The Howard County VITA site will operate out of the North Laurel Community Center, 9411 Whiskey Bottom Road in Laurel, three days a week from January 18 through April 14: Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Taxpayers must bring with them all information and documents necessary to prepare their taxes. A list of the information required can be obtained by calling the site at 410-313-0386 or by accessing its website at www.howardcountymd.gov/VITA.htm. Appointments for tax preparation are encouraged and can be scheduled by calling the site. This year’s tax deadline is April 17.

In addition to free tax preparation and filing, VITA participants will have access to two asset development programs. PNC Bank will provide participants with free refund check cashing or the ability to directly deposit their refunds on free debit cards. MD CASH (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope), a state-wide non-profit organization, will offer incentives to taxpayers who opt to use part of their refunds to purchase savings bonds.

“While the public has been able to track the progress of the County’s snow removal vehicles
for some time now by clicking on the ‘snowflake’ icon on the County’s homepage, the addition
of social media and the new NotifyMeHoward alert system have just made getting the word
out so much easier,” said County Executive Ulman. “Whether you live, work or need to travel
through Howard County, we have up-to-date tools to keep you informed.”

NotifyMeHoward sends subscribers critical information about potentially dangerous weather
and road conditions. The service is free and subscribers can select to receive alerts and
decide how and where they want to receive them – via e-mail or by text to mobile devices. To
sign up for NotifyMeHoward, visit www.notifymehoward.org and click “Sign Me Up” near the
bottom of the page or sign up through rapid enrollment by texting HOWARD to 411911.

The public can also visit Howard County Government through Facebook. When snow or icy
roads become a problem, Facebook “followers” get updates and are linked to the snow plow
tracker and a fact sheet with commonly asked questions related to snow removal and trash/
recycling pickup during and following storms. Check us out at www.facebook.com/hocogov.

The County’s information hotline – 410-313-2900 – is updated regularly during a snowstorm
with road conditions and other critical emergency information. When conditions warrant, the
voice recording reverts to a fully-staffed Call Center where customer service representatives
assist residents with questions relevant to the incident.

the bottom of the County’s homepage at www.howardcountymd.gov directly under the County
Executive’s message. The snowflake links directly to a “tracker map” which shows the current
location of snow plow vehicles, indicates roads that have been treated, whether roads were
plowed or salted, and the location of roads still to be treated.

The Bureau of Highways reminds drivers not to park on streets if they have driveways
available, especially in cul-de-sacs. Cars parked in cul-de-sacs make it nearly impossible for
highway crews to do their jobs safely and quickly and so that public safety vehicles can have
access should there by an emergency. Residents may also want to delay shoveling the end
of their driveway until the street has been completely cleared; otherwise, it is likely that a full
blade of snow may slide off the plow and block an already-cleared driveway.

The Howard County snow plan covers more than 1,000 miles of a 3,800-road system which is
divided into a series of routes. Primary and secondary roads receive the first service followed
by local/residential roads. Even during smaller snow storms, the entire effort can take as long
as 24 hours to complete.

“Nothing brings the State of Maryland together better than the Ravens, and we here in Howard County are excited to show our purple pride,” said Ulman. “We hope this time-honored Howard County tradition of lighting the County purple gives our Ravens that extra boost as they going into their post-season.”

In addition, County Executive Ulman has designated Fridays as “Purple Friday” in Howard County, encouraging employees, and residents, to wear their Ravens gear, or their “Ed Reed tweed.” Also throughout the week, Ulman has agreed to allow all employees replace their usual workplace appropriate footwear with a pair of (S)Uggs in honor of the sure-to-be Defensive Player of the Year, Ravens outside line backer Terrell Suggs. For those who do not own a pair of the furry shoes, Ulman is encouraging them to endure the winter cold with a pair of Matt Birk(enstocks).

The Executive has also commissioned a special menu item at the government cafeteria, Howard Café, for Purple Friday. The Friday’s specials will include items such as the Flacco Taco with a side of (Ray) Rice, Torrey Smith’s Catch of the Day, and a John Harb(oiled) egg salad sandwich on Dennis Pit(t)a bread.

Last year, Ulman encouraged all County employees to wear Ravens’ gear and banned the use of the word “chief” as the Ravens first game was against the Kansas City Chiefs. In support of this ban, the County’s two “Chiefs” – Police Chief Bill McMahon and Fire Chief Bill Goddard were referred to as Bill #1 and Bill #2.

Once again, the nightly purple display will continue as long as the Ravens are in the running for the Super Bowl. When it comes to the Ravens, you Ngata believe.