Governor O’Malley Signs Sustainable Communities Financing Bill Into Law

2013 tax increment financing law enhances authority for local government funding for community revitalization and economic development

Press Release: Thursday, May 16, 2013; 10:30 a.m.

BALTIMORE, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley today signed into law a bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly that expands municipalities’ and counties’ authority to finance costs for infrastructure improvements located in or supporting a Sustainable Community through tax increment financing (TIF).

Baltimore City grew by 1,100 residents in the last year

Maryland State Data Center has posted the U.S. Census Bureau‘s 2012 Population Estimates for Maryland’s Jurisdictions, the annual release of estimates for the 23 counties and Baltimore City.

The Baltimore Sun reported on the increase in population for Baltimore City in “Baltimore’s population up, following decades of loss” (March 14, 2013).

MD Planning Secretary Hall’s Letter to Sun Editor Clarifies the Facts About Septic Law

Maryland Planning Secretary Richard E. Hall

Published in the Baltimore Sun‘s Readers Respond, March 11, 2013, titled “Clean water requires everyone’s help“

I am writing in response to Sen. E.J. Pipkin‘s letter to the editor in which he called me the state’s land planning czar (“O’Malley is waging war on rural Maryland,” Feb. 26). The senator may think such name-calling and his “war on rural Maryland” slogan is strategic for him. However, it is bad for rural, suburban, and urban Maryland. This type of rhetoric damages the “One Maryland” approach that has helped bind all of the state’s communities together for many years. As a matter of fact, the state provides more assistance per capita in rural counties than it does in the more suburban and urban counties in Central Maryland.

“Reclaim the Chesapeake Bay” Public Awareness Campaign

All of us who live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are linked to the Bay by many pathways. Whether we live right on the water or miles from the Chesapeake, our actions have a profound effect on the Bay.

Awards for Sustainable Growth Leadership

Trophy presented to awardees

The Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission held its first annual Sustainable Growth Forum & Awards Ceremony on February 5, 2013 in Annapolis, MD. The focus  of this first forum was economic opportunities created by smart growth.

Christopher B. Leinberger,  noted speaker and author on sustainable growth and “walkable urban places” delivered the keynote address uinder the theme ”Economic Growth through Smart Growth: How Smart Growth Makes Economic Sense for Maryland.” Mr. Leinberger is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

View the videos and pictures from the 2013 Sustainable Growth Forum & Awards Ceremony at http://bit.ly/sgforum13.