Harford County stands to reap the most property and income tax revenue of all Maryland counties impacted by the influx of new workers and contractors headed to Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade under a personnel shift approved by the military?s Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
That?s the findings of a draft report called BRAC TASK #3 REPORT done for the Maryland Department of Economic Development and obtained by The Examiner.
Harford County stands to get $33.5 million in property taxes between 2005 and 2015, according to the study, which was conducted by Towson University?s Regional Economic Studies Institute under contract from the state economic development department.
Harford, which is home to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, could get $22.6 million in income tax revenue between 2005 and 2015, the study said.
“The local annual income and property tax revenues (local and state) approach half-billion dollars derived from the nearly 28,000 new households estimated to locate to Maryland,” the study said.
Last year, BRAC recommended that the Army “transform Aberdeen Proving Ground to a full-spectrum research, development, acquisition, test and evaluation Defense Chemical and Biological Systems” facility.
The change will result inmore than 16,000 military and military-related jobs coming to Harford County over the next six years.
The moves and jobs will come in phases.
Even so, Morgan Wallace, marketing director of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, said counties need to begin preparing “the infrastructure,” such as upgrading roads, boosting the housing stock and expanding schools to meet the influx of households.
“We have the toughest time educating legislators about the need for funding,” Wallace said.
Harford County Economic Development Director Jim Richardson said the county has already budgeted $200 million for public school expansion.
“We do have a lot of costs to get ready for this process, but through reasonable budgeting and a smart approach, we should be OK,” Richardson said.
Anne Arundel County comes in second place among impacted counties, getting $20.4 million in property taxes between 2005 and 2015 and $13.6 million in income taxes for the period, according to the BRAC TASK report.
The county is home to Fort Meade. BRAC recommended that the military?s Defense Information Systems Agency and the Adjudication Office and Office of Hearing and Appeals relocate to Fort Meade. About 12,639 jobs will be relocated to Fort Meade, according to the BRAC TASK report.
Baltimore County should get about $9.8 million in property tax and $5.9 million in income tax revenue over the 10-year period.
Howard County gets the least among counties at about $3.6 million in property tax and $2.6 million in income tax revenue, according to the report?s projections.
