Commissioners of St. Mary's County Announce 2021 Legislative Proposals

The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County yesterday approved the County’s 2021 Legislative Proposals and on Tuesday, October 6, will present the initiatives to the St. Mary’s County Legislative Delegation.

The full text for each of the 13 legislative proposals — which range from allowing animal control officers to wear body cameras to authorizing the County to impose building exise tax or impact fee — is availble on the St. Mary’s County BoardDocs page.

According to a County press release:

The 2021 Legislative Proposals approved by the Commissioners to move forward are:

1 – A proposal to decouple the St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) and Commissioners of St. Mary’s County debt. This request would amend Section 27-11 of Article 19 – Public Local Laws of St. Mary’s County to allow the decoupling of MetCom debt from county government debt.

2 – A proposal to reduce the amount of debt MetCom can incur from 25% to 2% of their assessable base; this request is to amend Section 113-6 of Article 19 – Public Local Laws of St. Mary’s County.

3 – A proposal to grant authority to request public facilities bonds for the FY2022 budget process. This proposal requests the authority to issue requests for $34.7 million in public facility bonds based on the FY2022 capital improvement plan. Still, it is subject to change as the Commissioners develop the FY2022 budget.

4 – A proposal to enact a Building Excise Tax OR Impact Fee. This proposal requests authority under §20 of the Local Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland to enact either an Impact Fee or a Building Excise Tax, but not both, in St. Mary’s County.

5 – A proposal to repeal the termination date of the Real Property Transfer Tax in Chapter 138(F) of Article 19 – Public Local Laws of St. Mary’s County.

6 – A proposal to request authority to increase the cap of the St. Mary’s County Public Accommodations Tax Rate from five (5) percent to seven (7) percent.

7 – A proposal to repeal the St. Mary’s County Open Meetings Act located in 9-501 through 9- 516 of the Local Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland and to require that St. Mary’s County instead follows the State Open Meetings Act located in §3-101- §3-501 of the General Provisions Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

8 – A proposal to allow Body Worn Cameras for Animal Control Officers by amending 10-402 of the Judicial Proceedings Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. This legislation would allow St. Mary’s County Animal Control Officer to wear body cameras to record on-duty encounters and activities.

9 – A proposal for Human Relations Commission Language Update, to amend §29-106(b)(2) of the Local Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland to include sexual orientation and gender identity within the protected classes of people under the Powers and Duties of the St. Mary’s County Human Relations Commission.

10 – A proposal to create Bingo Licensing Permit Review entity by amending the local gaming provisions for St. Mary’s County located in §13- 2101, §13-2103, §13-2105, §13-2106,§13-2107 and §13-2115 of the Criminal Law Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. This legislation would provide for the creation of a Bingo Licensing Permit Review entity.

11 – A proposal to allow Golf Carts to drive on Old Horse Landing Road. The Commissioners will request to amend §20-104 of the Transportation Article to exempt Golf Carts from Motor Vehicle registration Requirements on Old Horse Landing Road in Mechanicsville.

12 – Support the Breton Bay community request for a Bond Bill for $750,000 to repair/reconstruct the water management pond/dam in Breton Bay.

13 – Support Alcohol Beverage Board proposal for authority to issue on-site Consumption Permits for Class 1 Distillery Licenses and amends §28 of the Alcoholic Beverages Article to add section 404 to establish an on-site consumption permit for Class 1 Distillery License.

Commissioner decisions and related public documents are available on the county government website in BoardDocs. St. Mary’s County Commissioner Meetings may be viewed live Tuesday mornings on SMCG Channel 95 or as a replay Friday nights at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are also available for on-demand viewing on the St. Mary’s County Government YouTube Channel.