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Quibble over semantics all you want, the guy's policies hurt rural MD disproportionately compared to the rest of the state, and it wasn't an accident or collateral damage.
Looking past the laundry list of facts, you learn a lot about a person's priorities when a crisis happens. We had two miners trapped under tons of debris. The governor of our state was just over 30 minutes away. He got in his limo and headed back to Annapolis. If that isn't an f-you to our community, I don't know what is. The slight was remembered and still talked about.
He stiffed us on numerous planned engagements too, often sending low level under secretaries in his stead. NPB's sentiments are echoed by everyone I have talked to that interacted with him. The guy is a snake and seemed to relish in the fact he didn't have to hide it because us podunk hill dwellers couldn't hurt him politically.
I think you've now set your previous reply in context. You want to believe MOM was anti-rural, you're going to believe he was anti-rural, and no amount of argument or facts to the contrary will persuade you.
I get it that two trapped miners is a big deal in a small community, but what would you have expected him to actually do had he shown up? Get a shovel? Mouth mealy words?
Let me add the Flush Tax. Collected all over the state 'To save the Bay' but there is no way any of the smaller systems can even request money from it to fund needed upgrades. Not that we can't get it, we can't even request any of it back. And we have to collect it and defend it (and its increases) to our systems customers.
You've completely lost me here. If a tax is collected for the purpose of Bay remediation, why would any system large or small, urban or rural, expect to get anything back?
Then explain to me why a "small system" however that is defined, is prevented from even applying for money, that a "large system" is not prevented from applying for?
I assume there is some bureaucratic rationale, whether you agree with it or not, that may or may not, have anything to do with politics.
I get it that two trapped miners is a big deal in a small community, but what would you have expected him to actually do had he shown up? Get a shovel? Mouth mealy words?
Sometimes just being there says a lot when people are hurting. About the only thing anyone in PA remembers Gov. Mark Schweiker (a stand-in completing Gov. Tom Ridge's term when the latter went to DC to arrange security theater for us all) for, was as a mouthpiece during the Quecreek Mine situation. He was from the Philly suburbs and never ran for anything again but still did his time in a remote obscure corner of PA.
You've completely lost me here. If a tax is collected for the purpose of Bay remediation, why would any system large or small, urban or rural, expect to get anything back?
Then explain to me why a "small system" however that is defined, is prevented from even applying for money, that a "large system" is not prevented from applying for?
I assume there is some bureaucratic rationale, whether you agree with it or not, that may or may not, have anything to do with politics.
The Flush Tax was set up during the Ehrlich Administration and created a pool of money to assist sewer treatment system operators to upgrade to the EPA mandated ENR (Enhanced Nitrogen Removal) process. It was originally supposed to be a grant system but early on changed to bonding because, as I mentioned a couple posts ago, the cost of the upgrades were woefully underestimated.
At the beginning all sewer users in the State had to pay the Flush Tax (at that time $30/year) but only the largest 69 systems were eligible for funding from the fund.
Smaller systems (I don't remember where the cutoff was, somewhere under 1M gallons/day capacity) which treated lesser amounts of sewage still had to upgrade to ENR but had to go to the public bond market for funding, which meant paying higher interest rates. The Flush Tax bonds carry an interest rate somewhere between 2% and 3% while public offering bonds are in the 5% to 6% range right now for the best applicants.
To give you an idea of the costs we're at the end phase of the ENR upgrade for our regional treatment facility (1M gallons/day capacity). The original estimates were in the $8 million range. That's has ballooned to $22 million just for the ENR piece and doesn't include an increase in capacity for one of the plant's co-owners.
The Ellicott City facility was finalized at just under $200 million. Galena, on the Eastern Shore, with just a bit over 600 residents was looking at an upgrade cost of a bit over $3 million.
Last edited by North Beach Person; 10-08-2015 at 07:07 AM..
The Flush Tax was set up during the Ehrlich Administration and created a pool of money to assist sewer treatment system operators to upgrade to the EPA mandated ENR (Enhanced Nitrogen Removal) process. It was originally supposed to be a grant system but early on changed to bonding because, as I mentioned a couple posts ago, the cost of the upgrades were woefully underestimated.
At the beginning all sewer users in the State had to pay the Flush Tax (at that time $30/year) but only the largest 69 systems were eligible for funding from the fund.
Smaller systems (I don't remember where the cutoff was, somewhere under 1M gallons/day capacity) which treated lesser amounts of sewage still had to upgrade to ENR but had to go to the public bond market for funding, which meant paying higher interest rates. The Flush Tax bonds carry an interest rate somewhere between 2% and 3% while public offering bonds are in the 5% to 6% range right now for the best applicants.
To give you an idea of the costs we're at the end phase of the ENR upgrade for our regional treatment facility (1M gallons/day capacity). The original estimates were in the $8 million range. That's has ballooned to $22 million just for the ENR piece and doesn't include an increase in capacity for one of the plant's co-owners.
The Ellicott City facility was finalized at just under $200 million. Galena, on the Eastern Shore, with just a bit over 600 residents was looking at an upgrade cost of a bit over $3 million.
Thanks for that explanation, very helpful, but see where we are now?
MVD raised the issue of the Flush Tax, as evidence of MOM's anti-rural agenda, and you are now claiming that the problem is inaccurate cost estimates by the Ehrlich admin. Doesn't compute.
Thanks for that explanation, very helpful, but see where we are now?
MVD raised the issue of the Flush Tax, as evidence of MOM's anti-rural agenda, and you are now claiming that the problem is inaccurate cost estimates by the Ehrlich admin. Doesn't compute.
It doesn't compute because the estimates weren't from the Ehrlich Administration but from the EPA. Some of us were wary of the initial estimates (and I have no, none, zero, training in engineering except what I got in Flight School from the Navy) simply because we'd seen how far the numbers were off in previous mandates over the years.
Also, the smaller users complained about being excluded from the grants/bonding during Ehrlich's time. The Legislature listened and expanded the program, which O'Malley opposed and would only accept if the tax was doubled. Ok, no problem. But, as I mentioned, those additional fees were raided to balance the General Fund so there was no Flush Tax money available from around 2009 to 2013. Those of us who had gotten bonds prior to then were alright but no new money was available while the EPA time requirements for upgrades remained in place.
O'Malley's anti-rural tag comes mostly from PlanMD, which was an outgrowth of Shafer's MD2020 and Glendenning's Smart Growth initiatives.
One of the PlanMD tidbits, and it's still in place, was that any sub-division with more than 7 houses had to be hooked into a sewage treatment plant. No longer could the houses have an individual septic system or a shared system. It had to be a full blown treatment facility with holding tanks, chlorinators, aeration, etc. with a discharge permit.
To go along with that all the Counties had to tier their jurisdictions from 1 to 4. Tier 1 is where sewer and water is already available, Tier 2 is where it's planned in the future (which meant Counties had to develop long range sewer and water district plans and designations), Tier 3 is where sewer and water will never go so that will be septic and wells (unless it's a sub-division of more than 7 houses, then see above), and Tier 4 where there will be no development ever.
Keep in mind that sewer and water allow greater density.
One of the issues was that once an area was designated in a tier then there was no ability to change it. A Tier 3 area could never be designated Tier 2, no matter what changes happened down the road.
The net result was that development would be steered to the suburbs so if, say, a major manufacturer wanted to go into Garrett County, the costs would be so great that it was unaffordable, if it could even get the preliminary permits needed from MDE and other State agencies.
The plan is loaded with time bombs like that.
Also, and this is what grated on top of other things, were the attitudes in the leadership of the MD State Department of Planning, MD Department of the Environment, DECD and a couple others. Any concerns by the rural Counties and municipalities were dismissed with a smirk, a wave of the hand and a comment deriding the intelligence of the questioner.
Last edited by North Beach Person; 10-08-2015 at 08:19 AM..
It doesn't compute because the estimates weren't from the Ehrlich Administration but from the EPA. Some of us were wary of the initial estimates (and I have no, none, zero, training in engineering except what I got in Flight School from the Navy) simply because we'd seen how far the numbers were off in previous mandates over the years.
Also, the smaller users complained about being excluded from the grants/bonding during Ehrlich's time. The Legislature listened and expanded the program, which O'Malley opposed and would only accept if the tax was doubled. Ok, no problem. But, as I mentioned, those additional fees were raided to balance the General Fund so there was no Flush Tax money available from around 2009 to 2013. Those of us who had gotten bonds prior to then were alright but no new money was available while the EPA time requirements for upgrades remained in place.
O'Malley's anti-rural tag comes mostly from PlanMD, which was an outgrowth of Shafer's MD2020 and Glendenning's Smart Growth initiatives.
One of the PlanMD tidbits, and it's still in place, was that any sub-division with more than 7 houses had to be hooked into a sewage treatment plant. No longer could the houses have an individual septic system or a shared system. It had to be a full blown treatment facility with holding tanks, chlorinators, aeration, etc. with a discharge permit.
To go along with that all the Counties had to tier their jurisdictions from 1 to 4. Tier 1 is where sewer and water is already available, Tier 2 is where it's planned in the future (which meant Counties had to develop long range sewer and water district plans and designations), Tier 3 is where sewer and water will never go so that will be septic and wells (unless it's a sub-division of more than 7 houses, then see above), and Tier 4 where there will be no development ever.
Keep in mind that sewer and water allow greater density.
One of the issues was that once an area was designated in a tier then there was no ability to change it. A Tier 3 area could never be designated Tier 2, no matter what changes happened down the road.
The net result was that development would be steered to the suburbs so if, say, a major manufacturer wanted to go into Garrett County, the costs would be so great that it was unaffordable, if it could even get the preliminary permits needed from MDE and other State agencies.
The plan is loaded with time bombs like that.
Also, and this is what grated on top of other things, were the attitudes in the leadership of the MD State Department of Planning, MD Department of the Environment, DECD and a couple others. Any concerns by the rural Counties and municipalities were dismissed with a smirk, a wave of the hand and a comment deriding the intelligence of the questioner.
Thanks again. I wouldn't dispute a claim that the program is not perfect. Few such programs ever are.
The excerpt below is taken from this doc which was written before the doubling of the tax under MOM, which I assume was undertaken to address the funding issues identified.
The Maryland Flush Tax
3
In May 2004, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich signed the “Flush Tax” into law. The Flush Tax, which began January 1, 2005, requires the owner or resident of each
dwelling unit to pay an additional $7.50 per quarter on its water bill. An annual fee of$30 is to be levied on homeowners with septic systems. The fund has three purposes:
3
For a good summary of Maryland’s point source strategy to upgrade wastewater treatment plants to state-of-the-art enhanced nutrient removal (ENR), see Maryland Tributary Teams (2006). The
description of the Flush Tax in this section is taken from that document.
to upgrade sewage treatment plants from biological nutrient reduction (BNR) to enhanced nutrient reduction (ENR),which are both methods that reduce nutrients from sewage,
ƒ
to expand the use of winter cover crops,
ƒ
to improve fund the improvement of home owner septic systems that are located in areas designated as criticalin the Bay tributary strategy.
The Flush Tax will raise approximately $60 million annually from users of POTWs. Another $12 million will be raised annually from the estimated 420,000 private users of septic systems. Of that amount, 60% will go to refitting failing septic systems in critical areas of the state, and the remaining 40% to funding agricultural cover crops. There are concerns, however. The current levels of funding will cover only about 54 POTWs; an additional $161–$411 million will be needed to cover the remainder (Maryland Tributary Teams). In addition, the open commitment to fund the full costs of upgrades creates an adverse incentive for the plants to design their own Cadillac version of enhanced nutrient management, perhaps exacerbating these funding shortages.
The vast majority of the funds will be used to upgrade sewage treatment plants.Specifically, funds will upgrade 66 major sewage treatment plants from biological nutrient reduction to state-of-the art enhanced nutrient reduction. With BNR, treated sewage has 8 mg/l of total nitrogen. With ENR, total nitrogen is lowered to 4 mg/l and
phosphorus is reduced to .3 mg per liter. The major sewage treatment plants designated to be upgraded have a minimum daily flow of 500,000 gallons and represent 95% of the wastewater flow from Maryland into the Bay.
I think you've now set your previous reply in context. You want to believe MOM was anti-rural, you're going to believe he was anti-rural, and no amount of argument or facts to the contrary will persuade you.
I get it that two trapped miners is a big deal in a small community, but what would you have expected him to actually do had he shown up? Get a shovel? Mouth mealy words?
The facts are the facts, call it whatever you want.
I expect our executive to at least pretend like he cares. When mine accidents happen in PA or WV, the governors come to the scene to express compassion for the dead or injured and their families. When it happened in MD, O'Malley drove away.
I remember that document. I see my memory was off a bit (actually 66 facilities, not 69) but I'm glad I still had most of it. I've read a lot of legislation/documents since 2005.
One of the things that has caused a lot of heartburn are Priority Funding Areas. Basically there is no grant funding for roads/schools/other public improvements if no water/sewer infrastructure is in place. The gold ring for a couple years was getting yourself designated as a PFA, then the money spigot could open up.
Not be one, then that school you want to build can be built but don't expect any State money from the Board of Public Works. That's a nice road you want to upgrade to service that development but you're not a PFA so no money.
One of the things Westside Boy has mentioned is the "one size fits all" mentality. An example is the encouragement from the state to limit single family home construction and replace them with apartments. The reason stated in PlanMD is to encourage use of non-auto modes of transportation (that whole walkability thing) such as mass transit. Where the rub comes in relating to rural areas is that they typically don't have much of a transit system. But in order to get grant funding for dealing with increased residential growth that growth has to be multi-family, to encourage non-auto and mass transit modes of transportation. Which you don't really have.
Which has put rural Counties into the position of massively subsidizing under utilized and inefficient bus systems to keep the grant money for other things coming. To put the cherry on the sundae for the County bus systems is that if your ridership increases your State and federal subsidy drops. It's better to keep ridership low because then you don't lose quite as much money.
The facts are the facts, call it whatever you want.
I expect our executive to at least pretend like he cares. When mine accidents happen in PA or WV, the governors come to the scene to express compassion for the dead or injured and their families. When it happened in MD, O'Malley drove away.
And there we differ, I value straight talking truthfulness over deception.
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