Budget, energy among topics discussed at Eastern Shore Delegation meeting
MARYLAND – The Eastern Shore Delegation discussed many topics today. The big ones among them, the state budget and energy.
Eastern Shore lawmakers presented a County Revenue Outlook, providing a snapshot of the fiscal health of county governments in Maryland.
Delegate Chris Adams says one of the biggest challenges will be whether the state will be willing to pass unfunded mandates down to the county level.
“What this means really for the Eastern Shore citizens is their tax rates on their property are going up and that’s how we’re unfortunately going to be funding Maryland,” said Del. Adams. Not only is it a tax increase we’re going to be talking about at the state level for the state budget, it’s that citizens for these property taxes is going to fund a lot of the unfunded mandates coming down to the counties.”
But they weren’t just talking money at the state level.
They were also talking about money in your pocket, specifically when it comes to Delmarva Power and rising energy costs the public has been seeing.
“The real lion’s share of this is really driven by usage,” said Marcus Beal, Delmarva Power Director of External Affairs.
Beal told lawmakers there have been a limited number of rate increases over the years, all which they have notified the public on. He said a reason for a lot of increase in costs is the amount of usage by customers.
“We saw about a 1% increase on bills due to supply right, and that’s again the cost of energy itself,” he said. “We had a 2% due to those policies you are mentioning, different programs, and then there’s a variable rate, it’s about 6% in our actual distribution.”
Delmarva Power will be holding a public event at the Kent Island Library in Stevensville next Wednesday from 3 to 7 pm. They plan to address any concerns and questions you have.
For more information visit the Department of Legislative Services website. Click on the “budget” tab, followed by the “State Aid to Local Governments” tab.
