20020701 to 2003 SDOSM Westminster City Budget Summary

20020701-2003 Westminster City Budget Summary

INCOME			TOTAL	GENERAL FUND	SEWER FUND	WATER FUND
Taxes - Local - Property			4,150,000	4,150,000
Taxes - Local - Income			1,200,000	1,200,000
Taxes - Local - Other			260,000	260,000
License & Permits			297,300	297,300
Revenue from other Agencies
	Federal Grants &/or State Grants
		Police Protection	390,000	390,000
		Highway User revenue	800,000	800,000
		Other	702,467	702,467
	Carrol County Grants
		Shared Revenue	622,429	622,429
		Roads/Other	13,460	13,460
		Financial Corporations	8,516	8,516
Fines & Forfeitures			64,000	64,000
Service Charges for Current Services			5,065,993	506,100	2,351,748	2,208,145
Miscellaneous
		Interest Income	194,000	130,000	32,000	32,000
		Benefit Assessments	2,911,083	197,900	1,286,500	1,426,683
		Carrol County Septage Facility	310,000		310,000
		Other - Parking Fees	4,400	4,400
		Other	2,801,188	2,658,688	25,500	117,000
Prior Years Surplus or Allocations			864,566	864,566
Unfunded Deprication			12,666,000		834,000	432,000
TOTALS			21,925,402	12,869,826	4,839,748	4,215,828

EXPENDITURES			TOTAL	GENERAL FUND	SEWER FUND	WATER FUND
General Government
		Legislative	28,908	28,908
		Executive	41,433	41,433
		Elections	4,745	4,745
		Financial Administration	167,774	167,774
		Law	57,500	57,500
		Planning & Zoning	262,326	262,326
		General Services	265,176	265,176
		Other	431,192	431,192
Public Safety
		Police Department	2,869,171	2,869,171
		Fire Department	185,000	185,000
		Other	49,995	49,995
Public Works
		Streets, Highways and Alleys	3,951,028	3,951,028
		Sanitation & Waste Removal	872,526	872,526
		Recreation & Parks	1,463,431	1,463,431
		Other - Autos, Trucks & Equip	257,338	257,338
CDBG			69,162	69,162
Pension, Insurances, Etc.			1,893,121	1,893,121
Water/Sewer System Operation:
		Source of Supply	313,200			313,200
		Treatment, etc.	1,472,900		943,200	529,700
		Transmission & Distribution	614,800		278,300	336,500
		Customer Account	98,008		49,004	49,004
		Administrative & General	1,737,895		836,101	901,794
		Bond/Loan/MWQFA Loan Interest	107,784		50,392	57,392
		Amoritization Bond Issue Expense	4,704		2,459	2,245
		Deprecation	1,266,000		834,000	432,000
		Bond Principle Redemption	296,785		151,292	145,493
		Carrol County Septage Facility	185,000		185,000
		Capital Items (machinery, Equip., Etc.)	2,930,500		1,504,000	1,426,500
		Other	28,000		6,000	22,000
TOTALS			21,925,402	12,869,826	4,839,748	4,215,828

20020620 New EPA Reports Confirm Waste-to-Energy's Clean Performance

New EPA Reports Confirm Waste-to-Energy's Clean Performance

http://www.nmwda.org/index.asp

Washington, D.C. (June 20, 2002) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released data confirming greater than 90% reductions in organic, metal, and acid gas emissions from waste-to-energy facilities nationwide as a result of the industry's compliance with the Clean Air Act standards.

"EPA's new emissions inventory is proof that the Clean Air Act results in significant environmental benefits for industry and the public it serves," said Maria Zannes, President of the Integrated Waste Services Association (IWSA), a national trade group representing the waste-to-energy industry and municipalities served by the technology.

The emissions inventory and accompanying reports released today by U.S. EPA are based on actual compliance test data of the nation's 66 large-unit waste-to-energy plants following a $1 billion upgrade in pollution control technology required by federal "Maximum Achievable Control Technology" (MACT) air standards promulgated in 1995 for large unit municipal waste combustors.

"America's cities that look to waste-to-energy as a solution to garbage disposal have done a tremendous job working with the U.S. EPA and industry to bring about this environmental success," said Zannes. "The reports show that waste-to-energy plants that generate electricity from trash represent one of the cleanest sources of power and safest methods of waste disposal in this country. The reports also show that modern pollution control equipment works very well to keep emissions very low."

More than 30 million people in 24 states rely upon 66 large-unit waste-to-energy plants that convert nearly 80,000 tons of trash each day into enough power to meet the needs of 2 million homes. Waste-to-energy technology results in avoiding the release of 11 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year into the air, according to a new study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will be published this summer in Air & Waste Management magazine.

The EPA reports show that dioxin emissions from waste-to-energy facilities dropped by more than 99%; lead emissions by 91%; mercury emissions by 95%; particulate matter emissions by 90%; hydrogen chloride emissions by 94%; cadmium emissions by 93%; sulfur dioxide emissions by 87%; and emissions of nitrogen oxides decreased by 18% due to retrofitting the industry with the most modern pollution control technology. Mercury emissions nationwide represent less than three percent of the national inventory of man-made mercury emissions, and dioxin emissions from waste-to-energy facilities represent less than one percent of the nation's inventory of dioxin sources.

Communities with waste-to-energy plants recycle at a rate of 33% as compared with the national average of 28%. Waste-to-energy facilities in the U.S. annually recover for recycling nearly 800,000 tons of ferrous metals and more than 900,000 tons of glass, metal, plastics, batteries, ash and yard waste.

Waste-to-energy reduces trash volume by about 90%, resulting in a 90% decrease in the amount of land required for garbage disposal. Studies of ash landfill conducted by government agencies and universities over the past decade show that leachate is like salty water, with a metals content that would meet drinking water standards.

To Visit the Integrated Waste Services Association (IWSA)
click on: http://www.wte.org

20020517 Bad Times Supervirus Warning Alert Caution and Advisory

Bad Times Supervirus Warning Alert Caution and Advisory

May 17^th, 2002

If you receive an e-mail entitled “Bad times”, delete it IMMEDIATELY. Do not open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty.

It will not only erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything on disks within 20 feet of your computer.

It demagnetizes the strips on ALL of your credit cards. It reprograms your ATM access code, screws up the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD’s you attempt to play.

It will program your phone auto-dial to call only 900 numbers. This virus will mix antifreeze into your fish tank.

IT WILL CAUSE YOUR TOILET TO FLUSH WHILE YOU ARE SHOWERING.

It will drink ALL your beer. FOR GOD’S SAKE, ARE YOU LISTENING??

It will leave dirty underwear on the coffee table when you are expecting company. It will replace your shampoo with Nair and your Nair with Rogaine, all the while dating your current boy/girlfriend behind your back and billing their hotel rendezvous to your Visa card.

It will cause you to run with scissors and throw things in a way that is only fun until someone loses an eye.

It will rewrite your backup files, changing all your active verbs to passive tense and incorporating undetectable misspellings, which grossly change the interpretations of key sentences.

If the “Bad times” message opened in a Windows 95/98 environment, it will leave the toilet seat up and leave your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bathtub.

It will not only remove the forbidden tags from your mattresses and pillows. It will also refill your skim milk with whole milk.

******* WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. *******

And if you don’t send this to 5000 people in 20 seconds you’ll fart so hard that your right leg will spasm and shoot straight out in front of you, sending sparks that will ignite the person nearest you.

Send to everyone...

In case you are a blonde, this is a joke.

Rec’d 200205

20020514 Getty won’t seek reelection

Getty won't seek reelection
by Lauren King Carroll County Times

May 14, 2002

Del. Joseph M. Getty, R-Carroll, announced Monday that he would not run for re-election in an effort to honor the two-term limit promise he made during the last election.

Getty did say that he would like to run for state Senate some day, but not against Sen. Larry E. Haines, R-Carroll.

"I've waited to see how things were lining up as far as Larry Haines' decision," Getty said. "I really want to honor the term-limit pledge that I made, and it seemed like this was the right time to announce it."

He said that if Haines changes his mind about running for state Senate, he would run for the seat.

But for now, Getty said he wouldn't be dropping out of the political scene. He said that he plans to help with U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich's campaign for governor, and his petition against the governor's legislative redistricting plan is still going through the Maryland Court of Appeals process.

Getty said that he would not reconsider his decision about the House of Delegates even if the legislative redistricting plan were amended to give Carroll a district completely within the county. The current plan would pit the three Carroll delegates - Getty and Dels. Carmen Amedori and Nancy R. Stocksdale - against each other for two seats.

Under the governor's plan, Carroll's Fifth District will be shared with a portion of western Baltimore County, where Republican Del. A. Wade Kach is the current incumbent.

20020514 Baltimore Sun: Westminster council OKs 03 budget

Westminster council OKs ’03 budget

The $21.9 million plan includes city's first tax increase in five years

May 14, 2002

The Westminster Common Council adopted last night a $21.9 million budget for fiscal 2003 that includes the city's first tax increase in five years - 4.8 cents - and $2.5 million for the long-awaited Longwell parking garage.

"When you take the [Longwell] garage out, there's been very little real growth in our budget, only $100,000 over last year's" budget, said Councilman L. Gregory Pecoraro, finance committee chairman.

The city's budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, includes money for day-to-day operations, its building program and water and sewer funds. No changes were made in water and sewer rates.

4.8-cent tax increase

The property tax will increase 4.8 cents to 40 cents per $100 of assessed value.

That means the owner of a home with an assessed value of $125,000 will pay $500 in property taxes next year, instead of $440, officials said.

When work on the budget began in April, city officials faced a $2.1 million difference in spending and revenue. The council trimmed $1.6 million from the spending plan in a work session. The tax increase will generate about $500,000 in additional revenue, officials said.

The additional revenue will cover $300,000 in road repairs on Royer Road. About $75,000 is designated for new salting equipment, improvements to the tot lot at Kings Park and a new position in the Fire Department.

The budget calls for a 1 percent cost-of-living raise for city employees.

In addition, the city will reserve $125,000 for a pension enhancement plan for Westminster Police Department. The city and the 43-member police department have yet to agree on a plan.

Council President Damian L. Halstad said the council is on the verge of scrapping the existing plan and devising an alternative more agreeable to the department.

Other business

In other business last night, the council:

Introduced a revised special capital benefit assessment fee that calls for commercial and residential developers to pay about $1,000 more to help cover the costs of expanding services.

Canceled its meeting May 27 for the Memorial Day holiday.

20020514 Baltimore Sun: Westminster council OKs 03 budget

20020428 Mayor Dayhoff honored for support of reservists sun

Mayor Dayhoff honored for support of reservists sun

April 28th, 2002

Central County Briefs

http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/carroll/bal-ca.cen28apr28.story

Mayor Dayhoff honored for support of reservists

Master Sgt. Thomas B. Beyard of Headquarters Aviation Depot Maintenance Roundout Unit recently presented the Maryland Employer Support for Guard and Reserve State Chair's Award to Westminster Mayor Kevin E. Dayhoff.

The award is given to employers who have gone beyond the requirements for employer support of the National Guard. Beyard, Westminster planning director, said the city has always supported his service with the Maryland Army National Guard. Beyard said Dayhoff and the Westminster Common Council also deserve the "My Boss is a Patriot" award for their support of his military service.

The award was presented at a recent Common Council meeting.

20020423 Baltimore Sun: Westminster property tax rise proposed and Officers disapprove of pension plan

Baltimore Sun: Westminster property tax rise proposed and Officers disapprove of pension plan

http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/carroll/bal-ca.council23apr23.story?coll=bal%2Dlocal%2Dcarroll

Westminster property tax rise proposed

Officers disapprove of police pension plan

April 23, 2002

The Westminster Common Council unveiled last night a proposed $21.9 million spending plan for fiscal 2003 that calls for a 4.8-cent increase in the property tax rate - the city's first increase in five years.

"It's a pretty responsible budget that does two things - it tries to meet the city's current need to provide services and it also tries to look to the future for other needs," said Councilman L. Gregory Pecoraro, chairman of the council's finance committee, which drafted the proposed budget.

In another money-related matter, the council introduced last night an ordinance creating a pension enhancement plan for the city's 43 police officers.

Concern for adequate room in case of a large turnout by police officers prompted the council to move the meeting to a hearing room at the County Office Building. More than half the force showed up.

The proposed 2003 budget, which includes monies for the water and sewer funds as well as building projects, is up $4.6 million from the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Pecoraro said more than half of the money is earmarked for construction of the Longwell Avenue parking deck.

Under the spending plan, city employees will receive a 1 percent cost-of-living raise. This year employees received a 2.5 percent raise, plus $240.

While water and sewer rates will remain the same, the property tax will increase 4.8 cents to 40 cents per $100 of assessed value. The average Westminster home has an assessed value of $125,000 and the homeowner pays $440 in property taxes each year. That will increase to $500 next year.

Pecoraro said the increase could provide the city with about $500,000 in additional revenue.

A public hearing on the proposed budget and tax increase will be held May 6. The council could take action on the proposals as early as May 13.

Local police officers - and several supporters from the Annapolis Police Department - showed up to voice their disapproval of the proposed supplemental retirement plan for the Police Department.

At a cost of $125,000 a year, the city would deposit the equivalent of 5 percent to 9 percent - depending on years of service - of an officer's annual salary into an account similar to a savings plan.

The Westminster Police Association, Local 84, released a statement at the end of the meeting outlining its opposition to the plan.

The organization questioned the viability of the plan to retain officers because its five years' vesting gives officers an excuse to quit in favor of employment by a police department offering the kind of plan they want - a 25-year retirement threshold and 50 percent guaranteed payback.

"Now is the time for the City Council to begin taking care of the employees that take care of the city and keep it running," the statement read.

20020423 Baltimore Sun: Westminster property tax rise proposed and Officers disapprove of pension plan

20020414 Police object to pension proposal

Police object to pension proposal

April 14th, 2002

http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/carroll/bal-ca.pension14apr14.story?coll=bal%2Dlocal%2Dcarroll

Police object to pension proposal - Council members say $115,000-a-year package is all city can afford; 'This is not acceptable'

By Athima Chansanchai, Sun Staff, April 14, 2002

A supplemental retirement plan for Westminster's Police Department unveiled at last week's Common Council meeting was supposed to satisfy dual goals of attracting and keeping city officers, but they don't like it. "This is not what they promised. This is not acceptable," said Daniel W. Besseck, International Union of Police Associations representative, who attended Thursday night's emergency meeting of the Westminster Police Association. Eight of 38 association members were in attendance.

Besseck was referring to the plan proposed by Westminster Councilman Roy L. Chiavacci, who serves as chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee. The plan would require the city to deposit the equivalent of 5 percent to 9 percent of an officer's annual salary - depending on years of service - into an account similar to a savings plan. It would cost the city $115,000 a year.

"The council's job is to make sure their employees are taken care of. It should be their primary responsibility. This is a slap in the face," Besseck said.

Members of the Common Council said the plan was a good one and all the city could afford as it faces a $2.3 million deficit.

Besseck's group has been working with Westminster police Local 84 for the last two years to revamp the department's current retirement plan, a state pension system that returns 32 percent to 42 percent of the average of three consecutive years of an officer's highest salaries, after 30 years.

Officers at the meeting said that amount isn't enough to live on, especially if they have a family. One officer said he would receive only $1,026 a month in benefits if he were begin drawing from it when he retires in 2023.

Most officers said they would prefer the city use the Law Enforcement Officers' Pension System, or LEOPS, which returns 50 percent of an officer's salary after 25 years of service. According to the city's studies, this would cost $364,000 a year, or $17 million over 25 years.

"Though we're on a smaller scale than Baltimore City, the overall stress level doesn't change. You still put your life on the line every day," Besseck said.

"What's important here is that we work with the police officers and take into consideration their thoughts and feelings and be responsive to their needs," Mayor Kevin E. Dayhoff said. "I truly believe the council worked on this with a sense of caring, depth and integrity.

"I understand clearly that the budget will not allow the city to go in the direction of LEOPS this year, but I would rather that we wait and do LEOPS when it's financially feasible than go to a pension enhancement plan."

Council President Damian L. Halstad said there was an involved series of discussions concerning the retirement options, and of them all, the plan proposed by Chiavacci was the most viable.

"LEOPS is not fiscally possible or prudent," said Halstad. "We're talking about this in a vacuum. We have to remember that there is a $2.3 million shortfall we have to trim from the budget, but the city is still willing to find money to implement this plan. ...

"Some people even view the whole plan as much too generous a windfall for the Police Department. The council showed great commitment to the force by moving this forward."

Police Chief Roger G. Joneckis said he would not comment on the program until he learned more about it.

He mentioned steps the city has taken to improve the department's situation, including pay raises and increased hiring to bring staffing to the full complement of 43 officers.

The union has been pushing for better retirement benefits to keep senior officers from pursuing jobs in other departments.

"They continue to train new people. You can fill bodies but not experience," Besseck said. "Maturity is everything in this job."

Chiavacci hopes officers change their views when they're given an opportunity for personal projections of their supplemental benefits on April 24.

"We tried to craft a plan that was both desirable and affordable, and quite frankly, it's generous," Chiavacci said.

He said he's disappointed by the negative reaction of some officers, but that he wants to hear what they have to say.

"If they did that, they can help us make it better than what it is. I welcome that input," he said.

Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun

Maryland State Police,

20020412 President Bill Clinton and the International Criminal Court by Oliver North

President Bill Clinton and the International Criminal Court by Oliver North

Global injustice By Oliver North Friday, April 12, 2002

DULLES, Va. -- On Dec. 3, 1969, Bill Clinton wrote to Col. Eugene Holmes, director of the University of Arkansas ROTC program. In that infamous letter, Clinton stated that he "loathed" the military.

On Dec. 31, 2000, 31 years later -- almost to the day -- Bill Clinton, as commander in chief, proved how much he still loathes America's military by subjecting them to the "justice" of a rogue international court.

On New Year's Eve, just days before boarding Air Force One for the last time with a load of stolen ashtrays and White House towels, Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court (ICC), another unaccountable United Nations bureaucracy that became reality this week.

The ICC claims jurisdiction over cases of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and "the crime of aggression," which the U.N. has never defined.

Although a permanent international court has been the globalists' dream since the end of World War II, it wasn't until widespread violence broke out in places like the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s that Kofi Annan and his cohorts went to work.

In July 1998, the U.N. convened the "United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court" in Rome to form a permanent international tribunal to try individuals for "the most serious offenses of global concern."

Once in motion, their court would claim jurisdiction over every person in the world and grant the ICC prosecutor extraordinary powers and ICC officials lifetime immunity.

Read the rest here: Global injustice By Oliver North Friday, April 12, 2002

20020408 “Skate parks fill the void” Boris E. Hartl, Carroll County Times Staff Writer

20020408 “Skate parks fill the void” Boris E. Hartl, Carroll County Times Staff Writer

Skate parks fill the void

By Boris E. Hartl, Times Staff Writer
April 08, 2002

Ronald J. Schroers knows the Westminster Skate Park has filled a recreational need in the city since it opened in May 1999.

The city's administrator of recreation and parks also knows, however, that operating a skate park isn't a sure moneymaker.

"I didn't build the skate park to make money," he said. "It was to provide a needed service to the kids."

That's the same attitude shared by Manchester leaders who continue to operate their skate park, but they have yet to recoup their costs.

Manchester officials said their $35,000 skate park, which opened in June 2001, will make money in the future. Finance Director Kelly Baldwin said the town has made about $2,000 from June 20 to Dec. 1. The costs have been kept to a minimum because no full-time staff members have been hired in connection with the park, Councilwoman Mary Minderlein said.

The council could decide in the future whether to hire personnel for the park, she said.

Schroers said a bulk of his operating expenses came from salaries for employees, insurance and maintenance. Last year, Westminster operated the park for $19,000 and generated $13,600.

He said the revenue figures have increased yearly, however. The city did add $19,000 worth of new equipment ranging from a street spine to a kicker ramp in 2000. "I set it up to break even to cover my expenses," Schroers said. "Right now, I'm bare-bonesing it as much as I can."

Westminster Councilman Gregory Pecoraro said the skate park is just one component of the city's recreation program, and officials realize that some programs make more money than others do.

"The point is we are doing a number of things to provide the recreational opportunities that the people of Westminster want. We are providing an opportunity for young people to use skate parks in a place that is safe."

In Mount Airy, town officials have used the revenues generated from the park to make improvements when needed.

"There's no hesitation because the park is making money," Councilman David Pyatt said.

The town used some of the $100,000 officials collected from developers and a $32,000 county award to build the park with 10 ramps and other equipment in 1999.

The town has sold 52 nonresident passes and 13 resident passes which help to contribute to a $3,680 earning so far in 2002, according to Town Hall numbers.

From July 1 to Feb. 28, the town received $19,700 in revenue compared to $6,907 in expenses, but the figure doesn't included wages for the park attendants, since the money is taken from the town's Parks and Recreation budget. In Fiscal Year 2000-2001, the town made $35,574 with $7,852 in expenses.

Councilwoman Laurie V. Hager said it was her opinion that the park is doing well financially because, in part, the town had a large base of people to draw from including those in Frederick County.

"There seems to be a lot of interest in skating and this, in of itself, is a reason for a park," she said.

Carroll County skaters could gain another skating option as Sykesville leaders are looking to build a facility soon.

Between 15 and 20 municipalities in Maryland operate skate parks, said James Peck, director of research for the Maryland Municipal League.

Reach staff writer Boris E. Hartl at 410-751-5902 or bhartl@lcniofmd.com.
©Carroll County Online 2002