DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| MC: falling apart and here's why
The Post covered a new report describing how Montgomery County has for many years been chronically underfunding capital maintenance projects at schools, county buildings, parks and highways. The report was written by County Council staffers, who serve the very council that approve the budgets.
An excerpt:The backlog could be cleared by 2018 with a consistent level of funding, council analysts said.
For example, the report says $4.1 million is needed annually to replace electrical equipment in county buildings. Duncan has budgeted $800,000 for fiscal 2006. He has budgeted about $1.7 million for residential road resurfacing, while the report says $4.9 million is needed next year.
No money is budgeted in Duncan's spending plan to replace traffic signals, compared with at least $1.5 million that the report says is needed annually.
The report says the administration plans to spend $75,000 next year to upgrade emergency lighting and backup power systems, while about $9 million is recommended. In total, an additional $700 million is needed. The Executive's response?Duncan declined to comment, but County Budget Director Beverley Swaim-Staley defended the administration's approach, saying backlogged projects are common in communities with aging facilities. »www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar···r21.html |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
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Rockville, MD
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| said by Gazette.net:
Duncan recommends 8 percent increase in spending
by Douglas Tallman, Staff Writer, Mar. 16, 2005
...snip...
The budget, which would kick in with the start of the next financial year on July 1, increases 8 percent over last year's spending.
"We can't sustain budgets that grow by this amount," said Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg. In about nine years, the budget would double at that rate, he said.
...snip...
(I added emphasis to Andrews' comment)
It's hard to imagine how so much can be underfunded when the budget is growing so quickly. The Post article says the budget has grown 88% during the Duncan regime (since 1994).
Astronomical!
The Post also mentions the MC's #1 money pit: STRATHMORE |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| said by JTRockville  :The Post also mentions the MC's #1 money pit: STRATHMORE Sorry but Strathmore is not even close to the money monster that is the ICC.
Admittedly, Strathmore is a good example nonetheless. Originally budgeted at $68 million, it came in at roughly $100 million (how can you have a project go 47% over budget??) plus I see now that the center is selling naming rights for the music center for $15 million, the concert hall for $10 million and the education center for $5 million (I can see it now - The Comcast Center for Excellence in Education at Strathmore) so it evidently really cost another $20 million that we were never told about. More disinformation: Strathmore claims to be self-supporting but that doesn't include $1 mil in operating expenses that county taxpayers pay annually.)
And did you know that MC has been named as a co-defendent in a lawsuit by a contractor for nonpayment of work done on Strathmore. Damages sought: $724K. And a 2nd company is preparing to file suit for $1M for nonpayment. (If a judge ruled for the plaintiffs, it would allow them to take possession of the property if not paid.) Evidentally, MC really has yet to make final payments, roughly about $10M. I don't understand why but it has something to do with MC failing to obtain a performance bond (they were too cheap apparently?) like they should have.
»www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar···r19.html
Anyway, if you think that's bad, wait til we start paying for the ICC. Then we'll talk pain! Oh wait, we'll just sell naming rights ... |
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vic102482
Premium
join:2002-04-30
Upper Marlboro, MD | reply to DonLibes
So what happens when MC cant fund themselves? Raise taxes cut programs, and get welfare from the rest of Maryland counties?
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I tie a rope around my penis and jump from a tree, don't you wanna grow up to be just like me!!!! |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| reply to DonLibes
Studies show that the ICC will not decrease traffic on the Washington DC beltway. Instead traffic will continue to increase. So .... MD also proposes to widen the Maryland part of the beltway. Estimated cost (before overruns): $3B. The new lanes plus one existing lane in each direction will then be usable only to people who pay the toll for them.
The good news is - we'll get even better views of the homes that border the beltway than before.
»www.gazette.net/200512/bethesda/···2-1.html |
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hokiefan
| Have you ever tried to drive from gaithersburg to columbia? You can either sit on the parking lot 495, or have fun behind grandma on the backroads that make up moco. I cant wait till the ICC opens so I can visit my friends in moco in under 90 minutes. Plus, farmer joe wont have to worry about me flying past his tractor on a two lane road at 90mph anymore. Everyone wins, except the loony people that oppose any and all roads.
I'm so glad I live near i95,i295,rt100,rt32, and rt29. Howard and anne arundel at least got it right. |
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nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
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join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
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| reply to DonLibes
Traffic will continue to increase no matter whether roads are built or not. However, if you have too few and/or too small roads, you simply continue to over-utilize the roads that you do have. You think gridlock's bad now? Let traffic continue to grow but don't build any additional capacity in the system. NOT smart.
-tom
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"Some people have morals, standards and ideals about quality, but I'm an American: I couldn't care less." --Tony Pierce (paraphrased) |
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DonLibes
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join:2003-01-19
1 edit | Yes, traffic will continue to increase but it will increase even faster due to the ICC. The State Highway Administration report admits it. The ICC will spur more development and the ICC will spur people to drive more. (Drivers are wonderfully sensitive to road conditions.) Of the intersections studied by the State Highway Administration, remarkably few will be aided significantly. Most of the intersections the SHA cites as "failing" will continue to be so.
Some roadways (e.g., the Beltway) will have increased traffic due to the ICC, negatively affecting the entire region. And in Montgomery County, the ICC will take away funding to expand and improve existing roads and intersections.
So if you want to claim that "the ICC is good for people," I'd have to add "but it's bad for others." On balance, I just don't see any overwhelming reason. Factor in the $3B cost and I can't imagine how anyone seriously supports it.
By the way, the report says it may be a toll road. (It includes analysis of usage at varying toll costs.)
The SHA report forcasts that by 2030:
• Number of jobs will grow by 32 percent.
• Population will grow by 24 percent.
However those figures are just for the study area. The figures are much higher for the region - for example, jobs in the region are expected to increase by 46%!!! So you can expect an even larger load placed on the road system by people moving through the area even though they don't live or work in MC. |
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vic102482
Premium
join:2002-04-30
Upper Marlboro, MD
| reply to nixen
said by nixen :Traffic will continue to increase no matter whether roads are built or not. However, if you have too few and/or too small roads, you simply continue to over-utilize the roads that you do have. You think gridlock's bad now? Let traffic continue to grow but don't build any additional capacity in the system. NOT smart. -tom Like hosting a Nationals game on the metro blue line. Simply not going to work. Yesterday was a disaster.
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I tie a rope around my penis and jump from a tree, don't you wanna grow up to be just like me!!!! |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| reply to DonLibes
said by DonLibes :So if you want to claim that "the ICC is good for people," I'd have to add "but it's bad for others." On balance, I just don't see any overwhelming reason. Factor in the $3B cost and I can't imagine how anyone seriously supports it. By the way, the report says it may be a toll road. (It includes analysis of usage at varying toll costs.) Looks like the MD Transportation Authority is pretty fixed on the idea of ICC tolls. (I guess the $3B base price is not enough.) The Gazette is reporting that the Transportation Authority is in the middle of a survey to "learn about motorists' willingness to pay tolls." |
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CruiserMD
Premium
join:2003-04-26
Beltsville, MD
| reply to DonLibes
3B is cheap!........The WW Bridge is costing 2.5B. If you want to complaine, focus on the local Pols. They are the ones that vote for development and THAT is THE problem. And the root of THAT problem lies in population growth. The State is always playing catch-up. And the answer is not to do nothing. Main reason we are in this mess is due to enviornmentalist success in stopping most of the proposed major road construction projects for the last 25 years. Hell, the enviornment has been screwed since the end of WW2. |
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