A little bit of everything
The CEOs of Maryland’s major businesses have found the “elephant in the room” that stands in the way of economic growth here: the state’s non-competitive tax structure, according to a new report from the Greater Baltimore Committee.
Read moreWith me getting a new job and the expense of moving to a new, bigger apartment, my boyfriend and I
Read moreGovernment spending in Maryland grew 30.5% over 10 years beginning in 2001, according to a nonprofit group that researches tax policies.
The Tax Foundation report ranks Maryland 19th overall in terms growth of government spending, which spans the administrations of three governors and two political parties.
Read moreThe governor and state treasurer cheered Maryland’s retention of its AAA bond ratings released Friday, and the three New York rating agencies continued their praise of Maryland’s high incomes, diversified economy and strong fiscal management.
But the agencies, which have given their top ratings to Maryland for decades, also sounded what have become routine warnings about the state’s dependence on federal spending in an era of cutbacks and sequestration. They continued to worry about the state’s high pension liabilities, particularly compared to the other eight states that also get AAA ratings.
Read moreSome Maryland state government workers more than doubled their salaries with overtime payments in 2012, and more than 3,300 topped $10,000 in overtime payments. Government workers who got paid overtime had total earnings of up to $160,000 annually, though only 212 out of tens of thousands of employees making overtime made more than $100,000 total from the state.
Read moreThirteen Maryland correctional officers indicted last month in a corruption case that has outraged legislators and the public were getting paid between $28,000 and $47,000 in 2012, according to salary figures from the comptroller’s office. “The vast majority are doing [the job] at the current salary level,” said one union representative. “I don’t think offering someone more money makes them more honest.”
Read moreMaryland Reporter’s third annual report on state salaries found that 5,663 state employees pulled in $100,000 or greater in 2012 –about 6% of total state employees. Three out of four of these six-figure salaries are earned by people working for state colleges and universities — more than 10% of the full-time employees — led by three million-dollar coaches.
Read moreMontgomery County government may soon be paying close to $1 million a year in rent — $31 per square foot and above the market rate according to one expert — for a domestic abuse center in downtown Rockville that on average sees less than four clients a day. The innovative center celebrates its fourth anniversary Thursday.
Read moreIn a somewhat unorthodox designation of state funding last week, the Maryland Board of Public Works granted a $300,000 refinancing loan to a bar-restaurant, The Limerick Pub.
The loan to the Wheaton watering hole is part of the Neighborhood BusinessWorks program, a business development initiative that provides gap financing to small businesses in sustainable communities, as defined by the Sustainable Community Act of 2010.
Read moreState election officials are planning to spend up to $1.2 million to hire just five contractors working for nine months, a high-dollar figure that has shocked key lawmakers and voter advocacy groups watching as the state transitions from touch-screen voting to paper ballots.
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