A bill to do that failed in the 2017 General Assembly Session.
Frederick, Md (KM) One of the top priorities of the Maryland Municipal League is the restoration of highway user revenues taken from cities and towns around the state. The funds come from the gasoline tax, and are used by municipalities for road maintenance, repair and replacement. Since 2009, according the MML website, the state has drastically reduced that money to help balance its budget. The organization says the cities and towns have lost more than $245-million, and there’s plan to restore it.
“This year, there were a number of bills that were presented in the General Assembly to deal with at least creating some predictable return of full funding of highway user revenues,” said Alderman Michael O’Connor, who serves on the MML’s Legislative Committee. “And the tragedy of the session is those bills never even got votes.”
O’Connor, who brought up that issue during Thursday’s Board of Aldermen meeting, said a different tact must be tried.
“This year, the fiscal year ’18 budget, proposes that we will get $1.75-million in highway user revenues. So that is a $1.3-million difference in funding.,” he says
When that happens, O’Connor says the city has two choices. “We can either supplement those funds from other services that are provided to the taxpayers of the city of Frederick; or we do less,” he said.
Alderman O’Connor encourages citizens who drive on bad roads to continue to file complaints with elected officials and city staff, but do something else as well.. “I want you send the same e-mail to the presiding officers of the Maryland House and Senate and the Governor’s Office so they understand the impact of not fully funding these highway user revenues at the municipal level,” he said.
By Kevin McManus