Spokeswoman: Baltimore County Shifts Blame on Budget

Baltimore County officials are shifting the blame when it comes to trying to explain a $54 million shortfall in predicted revenues, according to a spokeswoman for Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Keith Dorsey, the county's budget and finance director, told the County Council Thursday that the shortfall was in part due to a . Some of those taxpayers, Dorsey speculated, may have left because of the tax burden in Maryland.

Dorsey said the loss of taxpayers went unnoticed until the comptroller's office released a set of statistical reports late last fall. (Hear Dorsey's testimony on the issue in its entirety.)

Christine Feldmann, a spokesman for Franchot, wrote in a statement published both on my Facebook page and here on the blog that the county is shifting blame.

Here is the full text of Feldmann's statement:

The Baltimore County finance office continues to experience budget problems due to miscalculated revenue estimates. And once again, they are blaming the Comptroller’s Office.

While it is true that many local governments are struggling to accurately predict revenues in these tumultuous economic times, no one except Baltimore County continues to shift the blame. The fact is that the Comptroller’s Office has provided the same if not more data on taxpayers to all of Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City. Some jurisdictions experiencing wild fluctuations in revenue have even take the prudent step of requesting more information and analysis from the Comptroller’s Office to be better armed in their budgetary planning.

No doubt these tough economic times have been difficult for Maryland families and local governments but laying misguided blame offers no solution. In the coming year and beyond, we look forward to working collaboratively with Baltimore County, and helping the Office of Budget and Finance address these legitimate challenges. In that spirit, we sincerely hope that this misguided and counterproductive finger pointing will come to an end.

Christine Feldmann
Comptroller's Office

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