In the last few weeks, Friends of Harford has taken a firm stand against the Administration’s plan for using Tax Districts to fund infrastructure, particularly roads, into Perryman. To understand this proposal one needs to see the whole picture and so far, the County has only been forthcoming with piecemeal bits of information.
The Perryman area which is adjacent to the City of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Proving Ground has been targeted as the new economic development center for the County. Envision a small, planned city with some five story office buildings mixed with approximately 1,600 residences, stores, walkway parks, etc. The area has a double electric grid serving it already so it could be targeted for high tech industry. While the present single road in and out is certainly inadequate for this plan, it is near a railroad line and two major highways. We believe joint use of Phillips Air Field is not so far under wraps that it becomes a part of this scenario.
The administration and its would-be-developers have a critical need for a new access road, which would be essentially a road to nowhere because of the peninsular nature of the land under discussion. The State has already turned them down. Normally a road is the responsibility of the developer, but the 100 million dollar price tag is a bit steep.
Now comes the new idea. Create a tax district limited to the land presently owned by two men. Then when the tax bill comes, pass it on to the new residents for the next 30-40 plus years. The County gets its road; the developers make their profit; new businesses are given the usual tax breaks, and the present residents are now part of a city where the new residents hate them for not paying the same tax as they do.
The Administration mistakenly believes that if the County residents don’t believe they are footing the bill, they won’t object. This also very subtly plays one part of the County off against another. “Do what you want in Perryman, but not in my back yard.”
Isn’t it the County that wants economic development here in the first place? Is there some overriding benefit to the County from this plan? It follows then that the County must issue a bond and let all Harford County residents pay for the road. If we are unwilling, then it is time for the County to get out of the development business.
Friends of Harford does not oppose development in Perryman. It has concerns: 1) that the County’s drinking water well-intake area be protected, 2) that the Chesapeake Bay and Bush River watershed, the wetlands, and natural environment be given adequate consideration to protect both the eco-system of the land the health of the Bay, 3) that no tax district be used here or anywhere else.