Finance Employees Are Fastest Growing Segment of Local Government Workforce
County News / Finance and Procurement / Human Resources / News You Can Use
Finance Employees Are Fastest Growing Segment of Local Government Workforce

While most local governments haven’t been on hiring sprees lately, one area where they appear to be adding employees is finance, according to newly released data from the United States Census Bureau. According to Governing: The latest data from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll shows that employees working in finance-related roles increased 5.4 percent between 2014 and 2017. While that might not be a big jump, it’s significant in that…

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November 6, 2018
County Budgets / County News / Finance and Procurement / News You Can Use
Carroll Earns Three AAA Bond Ratings

Carroll County recently received the highly coveted AAA bond rating from all three of the major credit rating agencies. Moody's granted the county the highest possible rating, following the lead of FitchRatings and Standard & Poor's (S&P). The rating upgrade translates into a lower interest rate and reduced fees, saving valuable taxpayer dollars. According to a press release: The county will immediately feel the improved rating as it readies to finance a new $25M bond sale…

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October 16, 2018
County News / Finance and Procurement / News You Can Use / Public Safety and Corrections / Taxes and Revenues
Congress Considers Bill to Stop Diversion of 9-1-1 Fees

The 9-1-1 Fee Integrity Act would prevent states from diverting funds meant for 9-1-1 services, $1 billion of which has been lost since 2009 Since 2009, about $1 billion in 911 funding intended to bolster counties’ emergency response has been diverted by states into non-9-1-1 programs, according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports. While this issue has not been raised in Maryland, according to data collected by the FCC in 2018, at least five states—…

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September 27, 2018
Procurement Officers: We Need More Qualified Vendors
County News / Finance and Procurement
Procurement Officers: We Need More Qualified Vendors

Procurement officers are getting creative when it comes to finding companies willing to work with the public sector One of the best methods for ensuring that goods and services are acquired in a cost-effective manner is to create as much competition as possible. Competition is the cornerstone of procurement, and is a critical tool for achieving the best possible return on investment for taxpayers. But procurement officers across the country face a growing problem: Not enough…

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September 25, 2018
Is Maryland Prepared for the Next Recession?
County Budgets / County News / Finance and Procurement / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Is Maryland Prepared for the Next Recession?

Separate, in-depth reviews released in recent days by two major credit-rating agencies say nearly a quarter of all states are well-positioned to handle the first-year shock of a recession with their reserves — and Maryland is not one of them. It has been more than nine years since the end of the last recession, the third longest period of expansion in U.S. history, and state and local governments across the country are beginning to look…

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September 24, 2018
Commission to Advance #NG911 Holds First Meeting
County News / Finance and Procurement / News You Can Use / Public Safety and Corrections
Commission to Advance #NG911 Holds First Meeting

The Commission to Advance Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) Across Maryland, a 2018 MACo Legislative Initiative that will help Maryland prepare for the deployment of a statewide Next Generation 9-1-1 system that our residents expect and deserve, held its first meeting today in Annapolis. https://twitter.com/KKinnally_MACo/status/1042779676865912833 Maryland residents demand and expect 9-1-1 emergency service to be reliable and efficient. Next-generation technology is required to keep up with this increasingly complex public safety function – improving wireless caller location,…

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September 20, 2018
Finance and Procurement / Health and Human Services / Summer Conference
Healthy Food Procurement Options Explored at 2018 Summer #MACoCon

County attendees to the 2018 MACo Summer Conference learned how to incorporate healthy, sustainable food products into to their procurement processes at the "Putting Our Best Food Forward: A Sea of Possibilities" panel on August 16, 2018. Friends of the Earth Senior Food Campaigner Chloe Waterman stated that public procurement is one of the few leverages local governments have over a globalized food system. Waterman explained how values based procurement can align policy with purchasing…

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August 20, 2018
County Budgets / County News / Elections / Finance and Procurement / Information Technology / News You Can Use / Summer Conference
Conduit Street Podcast: Live at #MACoCon with Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger

On the latest episode of the Conduit Street Podcast, Michael Sanderson and Kevin Kinnally are joined by Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger for a live recording at MACo's Summer Conference in Ocean City, Maryland. Listen in to hear about how Congressman Ruppersberger's experience in local government affect his decision-making on Capitol Hill, the importance of municipal bonds, an update on election security, and more! Listen here: MACo has made the podcast available through both iTunes and Google Play Music by…

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August 20, 2018
County News / Economic Development / Finance and Procurement / Summer Conference / Taxes and Revenues
Median Home Values Surge Throughout Maryland

Median home values are on the rise - and, in fact, are at their highest levels in 10 years, according to The Daily Record's real estate blog, Ground Up. For counties, which depend on property taxes more than any other revenue stream, this is a big deal. When looking at median sales price increases this July as compared to July 2017, Prince George's County's increased by 1.1 percent, the Baltimore metro area's increased by 2.6 percent, Montgomery's increased…

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August 13, 2018
County News / Finance and Procurement / Taxes and Revenues
Conduit Street Podcast: Introducing the DLS Podcast

The Conduit Street Podcast is pleased to announce that our friends at the Maryland Department of Legislative Services (DLS) have launched a podcast. In this week's premiere episode, Matthew Bennett and Patrick Frank discuss bond sales in Maryland: -Why does the state government borrow money, through bonds, to pay for capital projects? -What does the state's Triple-A bond rating mean for taxpayers? -How does the state actually sell bonds? Who can buy them? The nationally-regarded…

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August 8, 2018
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