Community Corner

First 100 Days Full of Change for County Commissioners

Board of County Commissioners President Doug Howard summarized the board's accomplishments in its first 100 days.

County Commissioner Doug Howard highlighted the accomplishments of the Carroll County governing body in its first 100 days in office, including the decision to replace the Resident Trooper Program with a County Sheriff's Department as the primary police force, and reducing the size of government.

Here are 10 tasks undertaken by the Board of County Commissioners in its first 100 days in office, according to Howard. 

1. Implemented the Pledge of Allegiance and prayer at the opening of Commissioner meetings. 

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2. Created term limits for county commissioners. The board has taken the request to the state delegation to try to get it passed into law. "There are lots of people in Carroll County with good ideas. This will allow for fresh ideas and people," Howard said. 

3. Replaced state police presence with increased sheriff's responsibilities. Over the next three years, the state police Resident Trooper program will be replaced with a County Sheriff's police force. "The transition is on schedule as planned, and by the second year we will see significant savings. We will see a savings of over $3.7 million a year by years three and four," Howard said.

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4. Created a new 911 call center in Carroll County. According to Howard, the state deemed the current 911 center inadequate due to an insufficient backup center. Carroll County will use a different facility for the 911 call center and use the current location as the backup center. "We will move the 911 call center into another location, which is on a separate power grid. It will have the latest technology and allow for a quick response to people's calls," Howard said.

5. Rejected the master plan created by the previous board of County Commissioners. "We rejected the plan presented to us. There is a real movement at the federal and state level to control county planning. Later this month we will have more feedback for the planners," Howard said. 

6. Changed the size of the Commissioner's office. Howard reported that the board has downsized from 13 departments to eight. It also has a smaller cabinet, which Howard said makes governing "more manageable." The reduced size equals a savings of $420,000 a year, according to Howard.  "We combined a lot of positions. We are running a board of five commissioners  for $140,000 less than it cost to have a three-commissioner board in the past," Howard said. 

7. Removed Carroll County from ICLEI. ICLEI is an international association of local governments, which has made a commitment to sustainable development. Howard said that the Board of Commissioners decided to end its membership with ICLEI because board members are worried about having federal and international planning for local communities. "We were the first county in the country to do so [leave ICLEI]. It is important that you have the say in how we function and what we spend money on," Howard said.

8. Changed requirements for raising taxes. It will now take four County Commissioners in agreement to raise taxes; previously it took only three. "We want to make it more difficult for future boards to raise taxes," Howard said. "We are actually looking at ways to reduce taxes," he added. "We will likely be able to accomplish that." 

9. Created the Celebrate America Task Force. The task force, still in the planning stages, will aim to "do a better job of celebrating and teaching American history as well as market Carroll County as the center of history," Howard said. 

10. Reinstated the County Christmas tree. Last year the County decided to forego a Christmas tree for the County office building due to budget constraints. This board, as one of its first initiatives, worked with the community to get a Christmas tree up "at no additional cost to the taxpayers," Howard said. 


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