How Will Hogan Affect Baltimore?

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by oneworld25

You don't know what you're talking about. The City already passed major retirement benefits reform. Furthermore more than 40% of all city employees live outside the city. Some of them don't even live in Maryland! You can get a more detailed breakdown by department right here.

I'd also argue that cutting the wages of low wage workers so that they live in poverty is not good policy. It just means those who do live in the city will use more city services which will increase the strain on city coffers.

By no means am I a fan of SRB and if the city ever gets its act together on audits I'm sure they'll find plenty of waste. However, I doubt it will be enough to reduce property taxes.

So the ones that DO live in the City dont Vote? Its irrelvant how many live outside.. the ones that do live in the City are likey more informed on what is going on in the City simply because its their employer. With turnout being so low in City elections.. a 100 votes in a City Council (or Mayoral) election from City Workers could make the difference. Thus you dont think that 60% of what 10,000(?) City workers voting in a City Election will make a difference especially if they are being spurred on by an issue important to them and they can rally around?????

[P47P47]

Originally Posted by mapmd

Baltimore I think would benefit form a "rail wheel" going around the city like the beltway does, with spokes shooting toward the center and across.

That's exactly how the subway was originally designed, except with the "rail wheel" being an inner city loop rather than a surrounding "beltway".


Too bad that got squelched by the Anne Arundel County Council, leaving us with the ridiculous "fishhook" of subway and totally incompatible straight-line light rail that we're stuck with now.

[debold4215]

I also like what Dave said. It is worth reading. I am hearing though that Baltimore is struggling financially. I recently read somewhere that the Mayor has had great difficulty balancing the budget for four years running and that Baltimore is on the verge of bankruptcy.

[pwduvall]

Originally Posted by debold4215

I also like what Dave said. It is worth reading. I am hearing though that Baltimore is struggling financially. I recently read somewhere that the Mayor has had great difficulty balancing the budget for four years running and that Baltimore is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Where did you read that? Please send us a link. Anyway, Baltimore's bond rating was UPGRADED in 2014: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-bond-rating-20140721-story.html If Hogan were able to balance the state's budget WHOLLY with cuts to Baltimore City, that would eventually (over a period of years) put the city in danger of bankruptcy. It would certainly hurt the bond rating.

Unfortunately for him, in order to do that, he would have to get the state assembly to completely rework all of the funding formulas that distribute state aid to the counties. The city gets about 17% of total state aid. Without adjusting the formulas, big cuts to state aid would actually hit the lower eastern shore the hardest.