Maryland Reporter.com’s Megan Poinski writes about municipal and county government cooperation in Maryland  in a feature today that pays tribute to the 75th anniversary of the Maryland Municipal League.

In her feature, Poinski highlights “What Counties Do” and “What Municipalities Do” and “Where They Both Intersect.” With both states and counties trying to control the same services, there is quite a lot of overlap.

“Cities and towns provide basic grassroots meat and potatoes services,” said Scott Hancock, executive director of the Maryland Municipal League.

“We don’t always agree, but we agree on more things than we disagree on,” said Sidney Katz, the mayor of Gaithersburg in Montgomery County. Katz has been a municipal officer in the city since 1978, and has been mayor since 1998. He’s a former Municipal League president.

Katz said that as Maryland Municipal League president, he tried to ensure that all of the different governments communicated and worked together.  Communication is vital, he said

MACo Executive Director, Michael Sanderson echoed Mayor Katz, stating:

With the state cutting back on funds – especially for infrastructure like roads and bridges – all of the local governments are going to have to bear the costs of keeping them in working order. Sanderson said that if the local governments band together, they could have more of an influence on Annapolis. If not, he said, there could be wide local disparities on infrastructure condition and taxes.