The Wicomico County Council met in a Legislative Session, May 1, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. in Council Chambers, Government Office Building, Salisbury, Maryland. The Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance were recited. Present: John T. Cannon, President; Stevie Prettyman, Vice President; William R. McCain, Sheree Sample-Hughes, Gail M. Bartkovich, David A. MacLeod, and Joe Holloway.

In attendance: Doris Schonbrunner, Council Administrator; Edgar A. Baker, Jr., County Attorney; and Richard M. Pollitt, Jr., County Executive.

On motion of Mrs. Prettyman and second by Mr. MacLeod the minutes of April 17, 2007 were unanimously approved as amended.

Proclamations:

Mr. Richard M. Pollitt, Jr., County Executive, presented a joint proclamation for Brenda Holden, for her outstanding service as an employee with the Wicomico County Department of Corrections. Mr. Doug Devenyns, Director, accepted the proclamation for Ms. Holden. Mr. Devenyns congratulated Ms. Holden for her hard work at the Wicomico County Department of Corrections and wished her well in her future endeavors working for the US Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Richard M. Pollitt, Jr., County Executive, presented a joint proclamation for William “Bill” Young, on his retirement from the Wicomico County Department of Corrections after 31 years of service in capacities of Correctional Officer, Supervisor, Captain, Major, Interim Deputy Warden, Colonel and Chief of Security. Mr. Young thanked the Council for allowing him to stand before them for all of the years of service that he put in and for everything that the Council has done for him.

National Month of Perfect Attendance: Announcing May as National Month of Perfect Attendance and May 17, 2007 as Perfect Attendance Day- Presented by Mr. William McCain to Mary Ashanti, President of NAACP; Fred Peterson, Vicki Demos, Education Chair; Ruth Carey, Member; Sandra Ennis, Member; Mrs. Ashanti thanked parents and the Board of Education for supporting the program.

President Cannon thanked Mrs. Ashanti for all of her hard work.

Doris Schonbrunner, Council Administrator:

Resolution 76-2007-Appointment of John T. Cannon to the Extension Advisory Committee of the Maryland Extension Office-On motion of Mrs. Bartkovich and second by Mr. McCain Resolution 76-2007 was unanimously approved.

Mr. Edgar A. Baker, Jr., County Attorney:

Mr. Baker presented the Capital Program Budget in the form of a memo from Mr. Richard M. Pollitt, County Executive. This is the items on the Capital Improvement Program for the first fiscal year of the five year program. This will come before Council again in the form of an amendment to the Legislative Bill.

Council Comments:

Mrs. Sample-Hughes thanked President Cannon, Doris Schonbrunner and her family and to everyone who participated in the Clean Up Day which was held in District 1 on April 21, 2007. There will be another Clean Up Day in San Domingo which will be announced at a later date. Mrs. Sample-Hughes has a meeting set up with Mr. Lenox to see exactly what can be done to address the trash issue in the Westover Hills area.

President Cannon stated that the Clean Up Day was a fun day and thanked Mrs. Sample-Hughes and Keith Moore for setting up this event. President Cannon also announced that he attended the Delmarva Poultry Industry Banquet and the Hebron Fire Department Banquet to which Sheriff Mike Lewis was the speaker and he enjoyed both events. The Pork n the Park was a great success. He also stated that the Salisbury Festival was a great event.

Mr. MacLeod stated that the Medals Day was held for Station 16 which was a nice event.

Public Comments: Mrs. Mary Ashanti, President of NAACP; stated that the NAACP supports the Board of Education budget and are also concerned that the Wicomico County Detention Center correctional officers receive hazardous pay and that the Detention Center be able to recruit more correctional officers. She feels that the correctional officers have a dangerous job and feels that everyone needs to make sure that the officers have adequate equipment, cameras, etc. to make their jobs safer. She feels that the Drug Rehab is a great program which is going very well and would hope that the Council would support the program. She also stated that Low Income Housing is always an issue that the NAACP is concerned with.

Recess

Public Hearing: Constant Yield Hearing- Mrs. Patricia Petersen came before Council for the Constant Yield Hearing. The ad was placed in the newspaper in accordance with State Law. The Proposed Property Tax Increase-The County Council of Wicomico County proposes to increase real property taxes. For the tax year beginning July 1, 2007 the estimated real property assessable base will increase by 9.1%, from $5,013,700,940 to $5,469,785,620. If Wicomico County maintains the current tax rate of $.942 per $100 of assessment, real property tax revenues will increase by 9.1% resulting in $4,296,318 of new property tax revenues. In order to fully offset the effect of increasing assessments, the real property tax rate should be reduced to $.863, the constant yield tax rate. The County is considering not reducing its real property tax rate enough to fully offset increasing assessments. The County proposes to adopt a real property tax rate of $.881 per $100 of assessment. This tax rate is 2.1% higher than the constant yield tax rate and will generate $984,561 in additional property tax revenues. This means that the County Council is proposing to decrease the property tax rate from $.942 to $.881. The property tax rate is going down. The revenues are going up because assessments are going up and the County is allowed two percent more in revenue. The County is required to place the ad using this language based on the State Law. There were no public comments. President Cannon asked if the County could appeal to the State of Maryland to change the verbiage because that type of ad alarms the community to which Mrs. Petersen stated that the State will not change the verbiage of the ad. Mrs. Prettyman asked if the property taxes were going to increase to which Mrs. Petersen stated that the property tax revenue is going to increase by 2%. Mrs. Prettyman stated that the Council can approve this or lower the rate to the constant yield rate. Mr. Baker stated that the date only needs to be set on which the decision will be made to adopt the tax rate which will also be the day the budget is adopted. Mrs. Petersen stated that even though the tax rate is going down if the assessment goes up at a higher rate than the person may pay more taxes but the rate is going down. Mr. Pollitt stated that when he was the City Manager of Fruitland, Fruitland bought additional ad space to explain to the public exactly what was happening with the tax rate. Mrs. Petersen stated that the ad can not be changed. Mrs. Petersen also stated that the Council must either set the tax rate or must set the date and time when the tax rate will be adopted. Mrs. Bartkovich made a motion to adopt the tax rate on the date that the Council adopts the budget and not later than June 15, 2007, second by Mr. Holloway and unanimously approved.

Public Comments: Mr. Keith Moore came before Council to thank Mr. Cannon, Doris Schonbrunner and her husband and son, Dominic (Keith’s Mentee) and some of his friends. Mr. Moore thanked the County for the dumpsters which were filled with trash. He stated that it was a very successful day and informed Council that this will take place in other areas of District One and District Five is going to also begin clean up in their area.

On motion of Mr. MacLeod and second by Mrs. Prettyman and unanimously approved the meeting was adjourned to enter into an open work session.

Legislative Session

May 1, 2007

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John T. Cannon, President

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Stevie Prettyman, Vice President

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William R. McCain, At-Large

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Sheree Sample-Hughes, District One

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Gail M. Bartkovich, District Three

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David A. MacLeod, District Four

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Joe Holloway, District Five

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Doris Schonbrunner

Council Administrator