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	<title>Cecil Times &#187; deficit</title>
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	<description>News and Views for Cecil County and the Eastern Shore of Maryland</description>
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		<title>County Council Frets on Bond Rating, Sewage Fees; Compromise to OK Exec&#8217;s Fee Boosts for 2 Years</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2018/08/cecil-county-council-frets-on-bond-rating-sewage-fees-compromise-to-ok-execs-modest-fee-boosts-for-two-years/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2018/08/cecil-county-council-frets-on-bond-rating-sewage-fees-compromise-to-ok-execs-modest-fee-boosts-for-two-years/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Aug 2018 00:08:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alan McCarthy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cecil county]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cecil Government]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Elkton]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bob Meffley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bond rating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bonds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[councilor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[County Council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[county executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deficit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fund balance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Moody's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sewage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sewer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sewer fees]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=5354</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Cecil County Council heard a strong pitch from an outside expert on the county’s bond rating on Tuesday (8/21/2018) to demonstrate fiscal responsibility on the county’s sewage funds, which have been running a deficit for years. In response, Council members indicated support for a compromise to give the county executive his request for the first two years of a fee boost plan but defer action on a larger, later fee increase. The bottom line of the proposed compromise is that sewage user fees would have a small, pennies-per-day increase for the next year and a half, while putting the “enterprise funds” on a path toward self-sufficiency. But the deal would put off the political pain of a real deficit-reduction plan until after the next local election, or until the local economy has a major boost in economic development. Cecil County Executive Alan McCarthy had proposed a three-year plan to put the county’s sewage treatment “enterprise funds” on a path toward fiscal balance, by having users of the services pay most of the costs. Currently, all county taxpayers&#8211; including the majority who do not use sewage services—pay as much as $3.2 million a year to subsidize sewer customers who are [&#8230;]]]></description>
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		<title>Sewage Fees: Another &#8216;Holy Crap Moment&#8217; Faces County Council; Will They Punt Again?</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2018/07/sewage-fees-another-holy-crap-moment-faces-county-council-will-they-punt-again/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2018/07/sewage-fees-another-holy-crap-moment-faces-county-council-will-they-punt-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jul 2018 20:19:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alan McCarthy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cecil county]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cecil county government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cecil Government]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bond rating]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[crap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deficit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[enterprise fund]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[greg Meffley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joyce Bowlsbey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lisa Saxton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reserve funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Flanigan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Seneca Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sewage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sewer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wastewater]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=5342</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[NEWS ANALYSIS The three water-filled jugs placed in front of the witness table at the Cecil County Council worksession on Tuesday (7/17/2018) were a graphic show-and-tell representation of what has been described in the past as a “holy crap moment” in the long and politically torturous saga of providing and paying for adequate sewage services in the county. One jug was a murky shade of deep brown: untreated raw sewage as it flows through pipes into the county’s Seneca Point treatment plant on the Northeast River; one jug contained amber-hued water from the river itself, the same waters local residents enjoy for swimming and fishing; and the final jug contained crystal clear water discharged from the state-of-the-art treatment plant. The jugs were also a metaphor for the county’s fiscal health and the questions facing the County Council: will the county continue to take the murky waters route to bury the actual costs of providing sewage services to those who use the facilities by raiding general revenues provided by all taxpayers, including those who do not use the services? (That ‘brown jug’ option cost general fund accounts $3.2 million in Fiscal 2017.) Or will the Council choose an amber-hued middle ground, [&#8230;]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Cecil CO Budget: Moore&#8217;s Last Plan Boosts Employee Pay, Limits School Spending Rise, Taxes Stable; But Reserve Funds Raided Again</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2016/04/cecil-co-budget-moores-last-plan-boosts-employee-pay-limits-school-spending-rise-taxes-stable-but-exec-continues-reserve-funds-raid-for-spending/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2016/04/cecil-co-budget-moores-last-plan-boosts-employee-pay-limits-school-spending-rise-taxes-stable-but-exec-continues-reserve-funds-raid-for-spending/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Apr 2016 22:13:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cecil county]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[animal control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[animal shelter]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[deficit]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[step raise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tari Moore]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=4789</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[NEWS ANALYSIS In her last budget as Cecil County Executive, Tari Moore—who is not running for re-election&#8211; does more of the same: draining reserve funds, accumulated over many years by past County Commissioners to protect the county against sudden fiscal adversity, in order to pay for her current spending plans. Her latest Fiscal 2017 budget, revealed on Friday 4/1/16, draws down those reserves by another $2.58 million—bringing her four-year hit on county reserve money to at least $12.4 million. Those hits are estimated to reduce remaining “unassigned” reserves to just $2 million for the future, according to budget officials. But her final budget gives some comfort to county employees, who have complained of no or minimal cost of living pay raises or “step” pay grade boosts in recent years. Moore’s budget proposes a 5 percent pay increase for all county employees, and for law enforcement and emergency services workers covered by collective bargaining agreements, the pay and step boosts will be even higher. BUT county workers are facing sharply higher health insurance premiums, so pay boosts could be offset by higher health costs, through boosted insurance premiums or being financially forced to step down to a higher deductible or higher [&#8230;]]]></description>
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