A key Baltimore County Council committee Monday gave the county the green light to borrow more money.
This comes as the county is both bracing for a possible fiscal downturn and dealing with the uncertainty of what to expect from the Trump administration.
The county is close to maxing out how much it can borrow. Councilman Pat Young, a Democrat, who chairs the Spending Affordability Committee, said increasing that limit will give the county more flexibility to deal with what’s to come.
“If we don’t do something then we’re cutting our legs out from under us in terms of being able to maneuver if there’s a downturn, if the actions of the federal government affect us in a significant fiscal way,” Young said.
He added, “The actions we’re taking aren’t being done in reaction to one particular thing or like, we’ll just raise the limit because we have to keep spending.”
The debt limit is being raised from 9.5% of the county’s general fund revenues to 10.5%, an annual increase of about $30 million.
The committee vote to raise the debt limit was unanimous.
Committee member Edwin Crawford warned that while there are projects the county needs to spend money on, it needs to be cautious.
“If there is some form of a downturn, you’re right at the edge,” Crawford said.
Former Councilman Tom Quirk, who once chaired the Spending Affordability Committee, criticized the raising of the debt limit. Quirk said the county needs to look for ways to raise revenue, cut spending, or both.
“It really is equivalent to having a maxed out credit card and calling the credit card company and saying, ‘hey can you give me a higher limit. My income hasn’t changed and my needs haven’t changed but give me a higher limit anyway,’” Quirk said.
Administration officials assured the committee that the debt limit can be raised safely, without jeopardizing the county’s AAA bond rating, which allows it to borrow money at a lower rate.
County Executive Kathy Klausmeier begins holding budget town halls across the county next week as her administration prepares to present its proposed budget to the County Council in April.
