Baltimore County Council Gives Budget A Paper Cut

The Baltimore County Council Thursday took a little off the top of County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's third budget.

The council cut just $100,000 from Kamenetz's proposed $2.8 billion spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1. That plan includes nearly $1.7 billion in general fund spending paid for with county property and piggyback income taxes.

"It's a fiscally prudent budget," Council Chairman Tom Quirk, a Catonsville Democrat, said, explaining that the small reduction taken by the council was a reflection of the weakened economy and sluggish property tax receipts.

"There really wasn't a lot to trim," Quirk said. "It's all muscle and bone."

The proposed budget contains no furloughs or layoffs and no property or income tax increases.

The money cut from the county's property management division was the result of a math error picked up by the county auditor's office.

When asked if the correction wasn't really a cut, Quirk said: "I think some would say that."

The cut preliminarily approved by the council represents the work over two weeks of public budget hearings. It is the smallest amount cut yet by the current council in the last three budget cycles.

Last year, the council made just $208,000 to what was then referred to as "a bare bones budget."

Two years ago, the council from Kamenetz's first budget as county executive.

A final budget vote is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday morning.