Leaders of the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) visited St. Mary’s County on May 20 to give an update on the successes and challenges from the 2014 session of the Maryland General Assembly. Association President Thomas Duncan and Executive Director Michael Sanderson made the presentation to the county commissioners during their regular Tuesday meeting.
Sanderson noted that one of the unresolved issues was the resolution of a court ruling that said that persons appearing before a court commissioner for a bond hearing needed to have access to free legal representation. That has caused a flurry of activities to try to get the order modified.
In the meantime St. Mary’s has budgeted monies to pay the attorneys needed to fulfill the order and the state has established a $10 million kitty to help the counties absorb the cost. But Sanderson said that amount was not enough to cover the net effect on the counties.
The Maryland Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the case on May 6 and their decision has yet to be made.
Sanderson observed that St. Mary’s County is ahead of other counties in rolling out its new emergency communications systems and accelerating the adding of new communication towers. That fits into state plans for a new communication “backbone,” he said.
Sanderson said when the state rollout comes to Southern Maryland that they will be able to piggyback onto St. Mary’s County’s towers, saving state taxpayers money and giving St. Mary’s some additional rental income.
Sanderson also said that the legislature this session corrected a defect in the septic bill which didn’t allow neighborhood septic systems in non-priority-funding areas.
The MACo executive director also observed that St. Mary’s was ahead of many counties in setting up Other-Post-Employment Benefit (OPEB) trust funds. He said MACo is working on setting up a MACo managed trust fund for all counties to save administrative costs.
Duncan noted that in his home county of Talbot the county’s OPEB is 90 percent funded but their school boards has zero percent. The St. Mary’s County Board of Education has contributed to their OPEB fund and the county has also provided funding for it.
Duncan is not seeking re-election to the Talbot County Commissioners after five terms so his presidency of MACo is also coming to an end. He praised St. Mary’s County Commissioner President Francis “Jack” Russell for his “energetic” contributions to MACo’
