Anne Arundel will be able to better handle the incoming military workers to Fort Meade thanks to the General Assembly, officials said.
The legislature approved a bill that helps local governments deal with expansion resulting from the Base Realignment and Closure process at the state?s military bases.
BRAC is expected to bring an estimated 20,000 jobs ? along with traffic and the need for more county services ? to the Fort Meade area starting in 2011.
“BRAC is at our doorstep ? it?s in our house ? and we?re glad to see the state is moving forward,” said Alan Friedman, the
county?s government affairs director.
The bill allows Anne Arundel to enter negotiations over enhanced-used leases, which allow private developers to build offices for contractors on fort property.
The issue had been a concern for the county as federal property is exempt from taxes and fees, and officials were concerned the additional development would
affect the county?s infrastructure.
The county?s goal is to reach a payment in lieu of taxes (known as a PILOT), which would allow the developer to pay a large lump sum up front rather than pay taxes over the life of the property.
A PILOT agreement would give Anne Arundel money to leverage for additional funds through bonds and grants to pay for needed road and utility improvements, said Bob Leib, the county?s BRAC coordinator.
“It would be prudent to do those improvement sooner rather than later,” he said.
The bill also allows the county to create special taxing districts near BRAC installations, which would help generate much-needed funding for the Odenton Town Center project, a key development for the county.
While the BRAC bill won favor with the legislature, the transportation fund was targeted to compensate for needed money when the legislature abolished the tax on information technology services.
County officials are eyeing how the state spends its transportation funds but are confident that BRAC projects ? which top the county?s wish list ? will not be affected.
“We felt we had enough money in [the fund], and if the economy booms, we might not even take that much out,” said Del. Mary Ann Love, D-District 32.
