Baltimore County, MD Hello Baltimore County, 6 May 2016

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From YouTube: Proposed FY 17 Budget

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Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz shares details of his fiscally responsible budget proposal.

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County executive kamenetz,: let's start with the bottom line., how does your proposed budget affect tax rates and where does it fall within spending affordability, guidelines?,.

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Well,, we're really proud of our great tradition of fiscal discipline.

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Here in baltimore county., this will be the 28th year in a row that we have not raised the property tax, rate.

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It will be the 24th year in a row that we have not raised the income tax, rate.

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And we have that aaa bond rating from all three wall street rating agencies.

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We're just one of 42 counties across the country.

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To have that triple aaa, and that again means that the experts.

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Appreciate that we're fiscally well managed.

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But it also means that when we borrow money for roads and school projects, that we pay the lowest interest rate possible.

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I estimate that since I took office,, we have probably saved 35 million dollars in avoided interest. Payments.

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Okay. tell us about your schools for the future program for public education.

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Well, listen,, when you focus on what the needs are within a budget,.

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One of our top priorities, of course, is educating our children.

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When I took office almost six years, ago,.

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We were in a situation where we had the twin dilemmas.

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Of what I say of rising enrollment but aging infrastructure.

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Eighty percent of our schools were more than 40 years old and just 48 percent of them were air conditioned.

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We embarked on a 10-year, 1.3 billion dollar schools for our future program.

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And we're heading into the home stretch of that program.

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At our conclusion, we will have constructed 15 new schools.

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And 11 additions and importantly, we're not only just air conditioning them --.

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And we'll be 100 percent air conditioned --, but also we're modernizing our schools,, adding public safety features,, wi-fi technology,.

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And importantly, eliminating overcrowding, -- no more trailers!.

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And in fact, we're going to have a surplus of 8,500 elementary schools seats.

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To accommodate future growth for our county., so it's a remarkable achievement and we were able to fund that.

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Using 65 percent county dollars,.

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35 percent state dollars to get this job done.

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Okay, now, let's talk about public safety.

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Obviously,, that's a critical element to maintaining strong communities.

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How does your budget affect public safety?.

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Well,, obviously, we want to make sure that our folks feel safe.

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At home, when they have their child play in the backyard.

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Or head to the store for something.

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And our police and fire do a great job at public safety, performance.

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This budget gives a fair amount of money to -- new money, --.

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To our volunteer firefighters,, improving their ability to serve us.

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And we also continue to make improvements in our police department.

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This year,, we will be rolling out an implementation.

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Of our police, body-worn camera program,.

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Where, eventually, every officer on the street will have that opportunity to have cameras.

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Okay, and maybe not the most exciting-sounding topic,.

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But let's talk a little bit about infrastructure in the county.

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You know,, I kind of liken it to your house..

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If you ignore the little things that you need to maintain your house,.

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One day the roof is going to collapse..

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We take this obligation very seriously in baltimore county.

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We are investing ¤1.6 billion in improving our infrastructure, --.

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Roads, pipes, sewers -- the kind of things that we don't always see and feel so to speak,.

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But if there was a problem, we would know it immediately.

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So we're trying to invest so we're avoiding situations.

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Where there are discharges of raw sewage.

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Or even sinkholes created in roadways.

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That's all because of aging infrastructure.

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and obviously,. We don't want a situation like flint, michigan.

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We know that we have to take care of our people for the next generation as well and not kick the can down the road.

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Okay. well,. We really appreciate you taking some time to share with us some of your budget. Priorities.

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oh,, it's great to be here., thanks!, all right,! Thank you so much. and stay with us., we'll be right back with more of hello, baltimore county.

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