What If No One Came?

What if the Baltimore County Council held a meeting on the and no one came?

The answer is: Everyone goes home early.

Tuesday night's budget annual public input meeting on the budget and the property tax rate failed to generate any interest from the public.

Long time council observers and council members said the meeting was a first.

"It's a first for me in my 14 years," said Councilman John Olszewski Sr. "Maybe everyone is satisfied with the job we're doing in these tough times."

The council holds this meeting every year to solicit input from the public on budgetary priorities.

In years past, the crowds were so large that the meetings were held in the auditorium at Loch Raven High School and could go on for hours. Typically, education advocates would ask the council not to reduce schools system spending. Property tax groups would frequently ask the county to reduce the property tax rate to match the constant yield rate.

This year, however, with falling home assessments, the county's property tax rate of $1.10 per $100 of assessed value is lower than the constant yield rate. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said last month he is not raising the rate.

The council's meeting Tuesday night ran about four minutes.