Latest news with #FrederickCityCouncil
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
City Council passes $235M budget, cuts new positions and tenure-based pay increase; mayor ponders veto
Frederick's City Council on Thursday passed a Fiscal Year 2026 budget after two months of budget meetings, cutting just over $3 million from the mayor's $238 million budget proposal. The council removed several new positions totaling around $900,000; $700,000 for a tenure-based pay increase for 269 city employees; $700,000 for a nonprofit emergency fund and more from the budget, totaling around $3.2 million. The council made the modifications to the amended budget Mayor Michael O'Connor put forward on May 14. The approvecd budget includes transferring more city funds to the city's Department of Housing and Human Services to account for projected losses in federal grants, more funds for new city equipment and vehicles, and a $20,000 immigrant legal fund for grants for local nonprofits serving the immigrant community. It also includes another $2.5 million for a West Side Regional Park community center. O'Connor objected to the council's cuts and said he would decide by early next week if he would veto the budget. He has two weeks to do so. The council approved the budget with the cuts 3-2. Council Members Donna Kuzemchak, Ben MacShane and Katie Nash were in favor. Council Members Kelly Russell and Derek Shackelford voted against the budget plan with cuts. Kuzemchak cited the tax-rate cut the council passed May 15 as the main reason for cutting items from the budget. The cut reduced the city's property tax rate by about 2.5 cents, from 73.05 cents to 70.55 cents per $100 of assessed property value — about a 3% decrease. MacShane previously proposed a larger cut of 5 cents per $100 of assessed property value, but Kuzemchak proposed splitting the difference, which she said was a compromise to the mayor. Kuzemchak said the city has left millions of dollars unspent at the end of each fiscal year, despite budgeting to spend most of it. Unused funds Unused funds the city of Frederick has had left over at the end of every fiscal year between fiscal year 2016 and 2024. The calculation to find this number was taken from subtracting the rainy day fund allocation for each year from the unassigned figure for that year in the city's annual comprehensive financial report. Council Member Donna Kuzemchak explained how to calculate these figures and has described these funds as unused. She said this money should be given back to taxpayers. 'There's literally a 20- to 30-some-million-dollar ending balance at the end of the year,' she said. 'When I see money that's not being spent, in my mind, that money needs to go back to the people who are paying it.' Director of Budget and Administration Katie Barkdoll said the ending balance at the end of every year was accumulated 'since the beginning of time' and often accrued because of things like unfilled positions accounted for in the budget. Russell has previously said she supported the mayor's budget. Shackelford encouraged his fellow council members to take the mayor's offer to meet with them to talk about the budget. O'Connor argued there was no need to cut items from the budget, as his budget proposal — even with a tax-rate cut — would still be balanced by revising their estimates for revenue. Kuzemchak sent The Frederick News-Post a list of the cuts. They included: * A $700,000 nonprofit emergency fund meant to help nonprofits in the event they lose federal grant funding * Around $700,000 for the tenure-based pay increase for 269 city employees from the general fund * Around $240,000 from the city's water and sewer fund, golf course fund, airport fund, parking fund, storm water fund, and rental operations fund that would also have gone to the tenure-based pay increase * A new superintendent of facilities maintenance position at around $175,000 and the new vehicle for the position at almost $90,000 * A new community and urban design planner position in the Planning Department at around $130,000 * A new deputy chief of staff position in the mayor's office at around $175,000 * A new economic development specialist position at around $120,000 * The current vacant senior assistant director position in the Department of Housing and Human Services at just over $175,000 * $225,000 from the police department's expenditures * Almost $50,000 from removing City Council staff positions and upgrading the current legislative assistant to legislative manager * Reducing a Rainy Day Fund requirement by $380,685 * $249,561 for an increased use of fund balance to offset property tax reduction Nash said it's time to pause all new hires, with the federal government cutting back on grants. O'Connor argued that he proposed adding fewer positions than in previous years. The city has gone from 683 full-time equivalent positions in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget — a metric that includes full-time positions and part-time positions that add up to full-time positions — to having 768 in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. O'Connor's most recent amended budget proposal would have called for the addition of six positions, two of which were meant to assist the City Council. All of those were cut from the budget. He said the council has asked for ways to improve the speed of the Planning Department, and adding a new position is a way to help things move forward. The new superintendent of facilities management position was necessary, O'Connor said, especially as the city plans shortly to start using its new 60,000-square-foot police headquarters. The economic development position would help support small and emerging businesses, he said. In an interview on Friday, O'Connor said that not moving forward with the tenure-based pay proposal could get the city sued. The proposal was aimed at giving pay increases to longer-tenured employees in the city, as currently many are paid at similar or lower rates to those in the same position with less tenure, O'Connor has said. 'I do feel strongly that addressing a payroll system that could result in the city being sued is something that I'm going to take seriously,' he said. ... 'It is within the realm of possibility that an employee who doesn't see the city addressing that with the tools that we have available could seek a judicial remedy, most likely through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.' The commission is a federal agency aimed at making sure employees are not discriminated against based on race, color, religion, sex, transgender status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or other factors, according to its website. Kuzemchak, MacShane and Nash have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the compensation measure. Kuzemchak has said that city employees already get merit and inflation-based yearly pay increases. O'Connor said he was most surprised by the cuts from the police department budget. Kuzemchak previously said the police department could not explain the need for the entirety of the budget in O'Connor's proposal at $50.8 million. If O'Connor did veto the budget, the council could overturn his veto. However, as the charter is written, it would require all five council members to vote to overturn the veto. Nash said the requirement was a 'mistake' the council made when changing the city charter in September 2024. The council intended to have the five-member overturn requirement for when it grows to seven members after elections in November, but not before then. In the same council meeting on Thursday, the council unanimously voted to change the requirement to overturn a veto to two-thirds of the council — which would be four out of five in the current council and five out of seven in the next council. However, state statute dictates that this change cannot take effect until 50 days after the council passes it. If O'Connor did veto the council-amended budget and the council failed to overturn his veto, his most recently amended budget, at $238 million, would become the city's budget. 'I appreciate that, for the most part, as a body — as a city — there's so much that we agree on,' Nash said during the meeting. 'Sometimes, that does get lost in the process when we're going back and forth.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Home repair program, emergency rental assistance could get city rental license money
The Frederick City Council will consider a plan for spending almost half of an estimated $1 million in revenue from rental licenses — none of which has been spent since the licenses were required in 2024. The proposal includes money for constructing two affordable housing buildings with shared amenities for up to 20 people. A housing repair program operated by Habitat For Humanity and rental assistance through local nonprofit Beyond Shelter are also being considered. The ordinance requiring the licenses was passed in 2022, but licenses were not required until Jan. 1, 2024. Licenses cost $240 per unit for a two-year period, according to the city website. It also mandated that landlords adhere to city health and safety standards for rental units. The council created the ordinance with the intent of using the funds raised from the licenses to create and maintain affordable housing, as well as to help city residents with rent. In the city's last fiscal year — the first fiscal year it levied the rental licensing fee — it raised over $500,000 from the ordinance. However, it has not spent any of the funds raised from the ordinance. The city estimates it will have raised over $1 million from the ordinance by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Rental Licensing Funds proposal A proposal to spend just under $500,000 of the revenue generated by the city's rental licensing program. Around $260,000 would go to local nonprofit Beyond Shelter's emergency rental assistance and rehousing support programs households at risk of eviction or facing homelessness, $150,000 for Habitat For Humanity of Frederick County's home repair program for county residents to repair their homes and $80,000 to subsidize the development of 12 affordable housing units, which could house 20 people. Now, the mayor's office has a proposal that calls for: * $260,000 for local nonprofit Beyond Shelter, which provides emergency rental assistance and rehousing support for households at risk of eviction or facing homelessness. * $150,000 for Habitat For Humanity of Frederick County's home repair program, which provides funds for county residents to repair their homes if they demonstrate need and have an income below 80% of the area median income. The median income was around $120,000 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census. * $80,000 to subsidize the development of 12 co-living affordable housing units housing up to 20 people, built by JR Capital Build, which has an office in Frederick. The monthly rent of the units would be $950 to $1,075 including utilities, according to city documents. Co-living refers to people living in the same space and sharing some of the amenities. The proposal, set to go before the City Council Housing Health and Education Committee on Thursday, also gives other options for how to spend the money. The city could create its own rental assistance or home purchase assistance programs, city documents outline. However, this would require significant additional time and effort from city employees, according to the city document containing the proposal. Another option is to fund a different developer — Gaithersberg-based M.E.P. Solutions Group — to build a $155,000 proof-of-concept accessory dwelling unit with a shipping container. Accessory dwelling units are smaller living units on the same property as a home, according to the city website. The city said M.E.P. Solutions' proposal calls for a test unit to be built in Monrovia. It does not specify the rent it would charge. 'Given these uncertainties and challenges — particularly limited direct impact on affordable housing within the City and the uncertain scalability of the project — staff recommend against utilizing the housing conservation fund for this proposal.' The ordinance originally called for the rental licensing revenue to be split three ways — 20% for rental assistance, 30% to cover costs associated with tenant relocation necessitated by the enforcement of the ordinance, and 50% for affordable housing. Recently the council changed the ordinance to expand the usage of the rental assistance fund and fold the tenant protection portion into the rental assistance fund. This means 50% of the funds raised by the ordinance can be used for rental assistance and to help tenants in the event of a forced relocation due to enforcement of the ordinance. The guidelines for how the money could be spent were supposed to be finished by July 1, 2023, according to the original ordinance language.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
MacShane decides against another term on Frederick City Council
Frederick City Council Member Ben MacShane said he is not running for reelection this year, but is not ruling out running for a third term on the council or another public office in the future. MacShane said he wants the council to have fresh perspectives. Nine people are currently running for seven City Council positions and two are running for mayor. The filing deadline for candidates for mayor and City Council is July 1. Council Member Donna Kuzemchak has also said she is not running. The council is set to expand this year to seven members from its current five. Candidates The candidates for Frederick City Council, with links to their profiles. This means the council would have at least four new members following the general election in November. Currently, all five members of the City Council represent the city at large. However, after elections there will be seven council members. Five will represent districts and two will be at large representatives. This is due to the then-Board of Aldermen approving a new charter in September 2024. Mayor Michael O'Connor has filed to run for a third term. He is challenged by fellow Democrat Ron Beattie, a former city planning commissioner. District 1 encompasses an area in the west part of the city, north of the Golden Mile area. Only current City Council President Katie Nash, a Democrat, has filed to run in District 1. District 2 is the area around the Golden Mile in the southwest portion of the city. Only immigrant advocate César Díaz, a Democrat, has filed to run in the district. District 3 is made up mostly of the downtown area. Peter Brehm, the treasurer for The Frederick Center, which serves the LGBTQ+ communities, and Wag's Restaurant co-owner Dave Schmidt — both Democrats — have both filed to run in the district. District 4 contains the northern part of downtown and the northeastern portion of the city. Only Joe Adkins, a former deputy director of the Frederick Planning Department, has filed for the district. Adkins is currently the only Republican to have filed. District 5 includes the northwestern part of the city. Sculptor Sarah Hempel Irani, a Democrat, is the lone candidate who has filed for the district. Incumbents Derek Shackelford and Kelly Russell and Medicaid policy analyst Libby Taylor — all Democrats — have all filed to run for the council's two at-large seats. The primary election is scheduled for Sept. 9 and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Díaz advocates for immigrants, infrastructure in race for Frederick City Council District 2
César Díaz, a community immigrant advocate who has a job in information technology, is seeking to represent District 2 on the Frederick City Council. District 2 encompasses the southwestern portion of the city, including the Golden Mile area. Díaz, a Democrat, has lived in Frederick since the 1990s, other than a short time when he lived in Hagerstown. Díaz said he is originally from Puerto Rico. He said he started getting more involved in immigrant advocacy after President Donald Trump won the presidential election in November. He said he lobbied for pro-immigrant laws before the Maryland General Assembly and worked with migrant advocacy groups like Centro Hispano de Frederick and the RISE (Resources for Immigrant Support and Empowerment) Coalition of Western Maryland. He also said he teaches computer classes at Centro Hispano. "I've been a part of the Frederick community for over 20 years and as I got involved, people just started asking if I had ever considered running for office, and I hadn't really at all," he said. "But now, with the new district structure for City Council, it just seemed like the time." He said the city should continue to work for its immigrant community. He is in favor of ideas like Mayor Michael O'Connor's proposed $20,000 fund for immigrant legal advocacy in the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget. Díaz said advocating for city residents is part of the mayor and council's job. "How you advocate takes a lot of different forms ... whether it's fire departments or police departments or better speed signs, but also if some specific part of the community is potentially going to have something that they need some help with, like the immigrant community might need with some legal advocacy, then I think that's a reasonable thing for the city to be budgeting for." He said he wants to advance long-stalled projects in the western portion of the city, like the West Frederick branch library and Westside Regional Park. Though the West Frederick library project is managed by the county, the city donated the land. "A lot of other things that affect the community affect the immigrants within that community," he said. "Services, transportation, capital improvement projects in this area — so it's more than just an immigrant issue. Immigrants are a large part of this community, and all those are issues of the community." He said he wants to find ways to address ever-increasing traffic on U.S. 40 and throughout District 2. "I live in the Hillcrest area," he said. "If you're coming in and out of that area there, traffic flow is not exactly the best." He said some potential solutions could be more bike lanes, advocating for the county to expand bus routes, or improving road infrastructure in the area. Both of Díaz's parents are artists, he said. His father made sculptures in Puerto Rico. Public art, like the many murals spread out over the downtown area, should be spread out over the city, he said. "I think it is an important factor that helps build that sense of community," he said. As long as the city takes care of its public art, he said, it can avoid situations like when the city moved forward with a $1.3 million project to reconstruct the Community Bridge mural on a bridge in Carroll Creek Park downtown. The bridge was supposed to be maintained by the city, but was not for decades, leading to irreparable damage. Díaz said he approves of the new district system implemented after the then-Board of Aldermen approved a new city charter in September 2024. "I'm excited because I think having that individual attention to the districts, while still having the entire City Council and also having some of our members, I think can only be better," he said. The primary election for City Council and mayor is scheduled for Sept. 9, and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 4. No other candidate had filed to run for City Council in District 2 by Thursday. July 1 is the deadline to file for candidacy.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
War veteran firefighters honored by colleagues in Frederick
FREDERICK, Md. () — Firefighters are paying a special tribute to those in their ranks who distinguished themselves on the battlefield during World War II and the Korean War. Washington County residents recovering after debilitating storm Three service vets are receiving the special recognition. And while the trio is no longer active on the front lines of fighting fires and answering rescue calls, their dedication to public safety has been an inspiration to Frederick's Independent Hose Company. 'In their time with us they did what they did to help the community, and it wasn't a question about risking your life,' Jeff Scire with the company said. 'You did what you had to do for those vulnerable families.' Frederick City Council President Brad Young is paying a special tribute to the trio during Monday night's presentations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
