September 3, 2010
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September 3, 2010
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Forms of County Government
What Do Counties Do For Their Citizens?Regardless of the type of government, all counties are responsible for providing the same services and facilities for their citizens. Such services and facilities can be grouped as follows. Services marked with an (*) are required or governed under state law. (Appendix B shows county expenditures for each of these categories.)
Code, Charter or Commissioner Form of Government? MACo's 23 counties (and Baltimore City) govern in one of three ways: as a commissioner, charter, or code home rule county. The eight Commissioner counties do not have constitutional home rule power (i.e., they may not legislate on local matters without the prior specific consent of the General Assembly). Ten counties operate under this form of government. Ten counties operate with a Charter as provided for under Article XI-A of the Constitution of Maryland . In these, the voters have approved a formal charter outlining the structure of the county government. In eight of the 10 charter counties, executive and legislative powers have been divided between an elected executive and an elected council. In two of the charter counties, an elected council that appoints an administrator/manager has retained executive and legislative powers. The remaining six counties operate as Code Home Rule counties (i.e., the county voters have approved home-rule power for the commissioners) under Article XI-F of the Constitution of Maryland . Commissioner Counties: Charter Counties: Code Home Rule Counties: Commissioner CountiesCounty commissioners were first authorized in 1827. As derivatives of the old levy courts, commissioners originally were ministerial officers responsible for county finances and roads. Since 1867 their powers have been broadened by legislative enactments. Commissioners do not have constitutional home-rule powers (i.e., they cannot legislate in areas where the General Assembly has not given them authority; and in those areas where they do have authority it is narrowly construed). The General Assembly has enacted a substantial amount of law pertaining to the powers of the county commissioners. Article 25 of the Annotated Code of Maryland is wholly devoted to the commissioners, and numerous other articles and the local code of each county also contain such law. In those areas where the General Assembly has given the county commissioners authority they may enact resolutions and ordinances, but as mentioned they are narrowly construed. Below is a general list of some of the enumerated powers of the county commissioners. The items in the list can pertain to all the commissioner counties, or to all except those counties specifically excepted, or to those counties specified. It is in this manner that the General Assembly exercises substantial control over the commissioner counties. Enumerated Powers of Commissioner Counties(Article 25, Annotated Code of Maryland, Section 3) Subsection (a) Excepted counties Subsection
(w) Volunteer fire departments; special provisions as to Dorchester County Charter CountiesIn 1915 the voters approved Article XI-A of the Constitution of Maryland . This section of the constitution provides for charter home rule, and is supplemented by Article 25A, and other articles, of the Annotated Code of Maryland. A county becomes a charter county when a charter board drafts a charter, which is then approved by the voters. Article XI-A provides that: the General Assembly shall, by public general law, grant "express powers" to charter counties; the charter counties shall have elected legislative bodies in which law making powers shall be vested; and the General Assembly may not enact laws for a single charter county in a subject matter contained in the "express powers." Express Powers of Charter Counties(Article 25A, Annotated Code of Maryland , Section 5) Subsection (a) Local Legislation Code Home Rule CountiesIn 1966 the voters approved Article XI-F of the Constitution of Maryland. This article provides for code home rule, and is supplemented by Article 25B, and other articles, of the Annotated Code of Maryland . Under Article XI-F the county commissioners may adopt by two-thirds vote a resolution that the county become a code home rule county. The county becomes a code home rule county if a majority of the voters approve the resolution at the next ensuing general election. In a code home rule county the commissioners have home-rule powers and may enact legislation in the areas of the "express powers" of the charter counties, except there is no elected council or charter and the procedures pertaining to indebtedness are somewhat different. In addition, the commissioners have all the powers they previously had as a commissioner county. The General Assembly must enact laws applicable to the code home rule counties as a class. It may not enact laws applicable to a single code county. Other Considerations: Financial PowersThe "enumerated" and "express" powers, in general, do not provide for tax and fee charging powers. The General Assembly has retained such powers for itself. It delegates them individually, either by tax or by jurisdiction. For instance, in the Tax - Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland all counties, and municipalities, are authorized to tax property (Sections 6-202 and 6-203). In the instance of impact fees, each commissioner and charter county must receive specific authorization to impose such a fee. The code home rule counties must receive such authorization as a class of counties. Baltimore and Montgomery counties are the exceptions to the foregoing. The General Assembly has given to Baltimore and Montgomery counties in their local codes the same taxing powers as the General Assembly; with exceptions. The exceptions are in the areas of intangible personal property, vehicles, horse racing, income, franchises, insurance, death, corporate recordations, and gross receipts. To create general obligation debt a commissioner county must receive the authorization of the General Assembly for each specific issue of bonds. In a charter county the charter must provide for the issuance of general obligation debt and whether or not it shall be submitted to the voters of the county. The debt may not exceed 15 percent of the assessable basis (Article 25A, Annotated Code of Maryland , Section 5(p)). In a code home rule county general obligation debt may be authorized by a resolution of the commissioners which may be petitioned to referendum (Article 25B, Annotated Code of Maryland , Sections 14 - 21). However, Article XI-F, Constitution of Maryland, Section 8 allows the General Assembly to limit the property tax rate and the amount of debt for any code county. The General Assembly has yet to exercise such power. Statutory Responsibilities of the CountiesIn addition to the foregoing, various articles of the Annotated Code of Maryland assign certain duties and responsibilities to and requirements on the counties. The Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland establishes a school system in each county and Baltimore City (Sections 3-102 and 3-103) and requires each board of education to submit its budget to the local governing body (Sections 5-102 and 5-107). Subsequently, each county must levy taxes and provide other revenues sufficient to fund the education budget. The counties, in their enumerated and express powers, have not been authorized to enact education law. The Education Article (Title 16) allows the counties to request of the Maryland Higher Education Commission the establishment of applicable community colleges, and requires the counties to fiscally support the community colleges. However, the counties are not empowered to enact law applicable to the community colleges. Title 23, Subtitle 3 of the Education Article allows each county to establish and support a public library system. Further, it provides the criteria for each library's organization and various other administrative aspects. While the county governing bodies appoint the boards of library trustees and must fiscally support the libraries they have not been authorized to enact law regarding their library systems. Washington County is bound by nineteenth century incorporation enactments regarding its libraries and charter counties (Montgomery County in particular) may have a library agency or board for which they may determine the powers. The Health (General) Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland , Title 3, Subtitles 2 and 3 makes each county governing body the county's board of health. The health board shall nominate persons for appointment by the state Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene as the country health officer. The health officer serves as the board's executive officer and appoints the staff of the county health department. In this indirect way state law requires each county to have a health department. All of the counties and Baltimore City in their enumerated, express, or general powers are authorized to prevent and remove nuisances, prevent the introduction of contagious diseases, etc. Employees of local health boards are hired by the local health departments but are paid through the state personnel system in all but four jurisdictions. Baltimore City and Montgomery and Baltimore counties pay their employees through their respective local personnel systems. Prince George's County utilizes both the state and local personnel systems. State law (Article 88A, Annotated Code of Maryland , Section 13) provides that the state Department of Human Resources shall create or continue in each county and Baltimore City a local department of social services. The Secretary of Human Resources appoints the director of the local department with the concurrence of the local governing body. In addition, state law (Article 88A, , Annotated Code of Maryland , Section 14) requires a local board of social services appointed by the local governing body. One member of the board must be a member of the local governing authority. Otherwise, the counties and Baltimore City have no statutory authority in regard to social services but may provide funds and stipulate the purposes for which the funds are to be used. In addition to all of the foregoing, state law places responsibility on the counties and Baltimore City to fund certain functions that are required by the state constitution or law. These are: the county board of supervisors of elections (Article 33, , Annotated Code of Maryland , Section 2-4), the State's Attorney (Article V, Constitution of Maryland , Sections 7 - 12 and Article 10, Annotated Code of Maryland, Section 39), the sheriff (Article V, Constitution of Maryland , Section 44, and Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, , Annotated Code of Maryland , Section 2-309), the county board of license commissioners (Article 2B, , Annotated Code of Maryland whole section), and certain circuit court support (Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, , Annotated Code of Maryland , Section 2-501).
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