Harford County Council fights over who controls the budget

Harford County leaders are debating an issue of which branch of local government should have more control over the county budget, the legislative branch that is the council, or the executive branch.

The Harford County Council held a public hearing Tuesday night on a proposed charter change that would let council members move money between budget line items — something they are not allowed to do under current county rules.

What’s happening: Right now, the council can cut or eliminate spending from the budget the county executive proposes, but it cannot shift money from one department to another or add to any line item. Bill 26-014, introduced by District B Councilman Aaron Penman, would change that. If the council passes the bill, Harford County voters would decide whether to make it permanent on the 2028 ballot.

What the bill would do: The proposal would let the council increase funding for an existing budget item, as long as it cuts the same amount from somewhere else. The total budget would still have to stay balanced. The council could not create new budget items, change how much revenue the county expects to bring in, or pass a budget that spends more than it takes in. Any shift would require a majority vote of the council.

The case for it: Penman said the current setup leaves council members with little ability to fix problems they find during budget hearings. Councilman Jacob Bennett gave a concrete example: during the council’s first budget cycle, funding for the Harford Center and the Arc was mistakenly cut. The council could see the problem but had no power to fix it without the county executive’s sign-off. Bennett also said the council had wanted to send more money to Harford Community College during a stretch of flat funding but could not act on its own. “All we can do is say, please,” Bennett said. Penman was direct about what the bill is not. “This is all about reallocating existing resources, not expanding government,” he said.

The case against it: Councilman Tony Giangiordano said he sent a letter to the council asking that the bill be pulled. He argued that if the council moved money away from a department that then ran short, the county executive might have to amend the budget — and that could mean a tax increase. “If he has to increase the budget, where does that come from?” Giangiordano said. Councilman James Reilly called it “probably the worst bill that has come before this council in four years.” He warned that the new power could turn into vote-trading, with council members moving money to their own districts in exchange for each other’s support. “There is no money limit on this,” Reilly said. “If I want to take $500,000 from the law department, from the highway department, from any department, if this passes, this council can do that.”

Ethics dispute: Penman also pushed back on a letter the county executive’s office sent to council members opposing the bill. He called it “ridiculous” and “garbage.” Giangiordano read from a separate letter from the Harford County Ethics Board, which said a circuit court had upheld an earlier ethics opinion against Penman connected to his position with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. Giangiordano said Penman had been told to bring any legislation touching on the sheriff’s office to the ethics board for review and had not done so. Penman disputed that and said the ethics board had no business weighing in on the bill.

Public comment: Two residents spoke against the bill. Brianna Coleman, who lives in the 21047 zip code, said the process felt rushed. She pointed out that four of the five council members who ran in the June primary were defeated, and argued the incoming council — set to take office in December — should be the one to consider the question. “If this is a good idea for Harford County, it will still be a good idea after the new council is seated in December,” she said. Jeffrey Wilson, a former Harford County Council president who served in the 1990s, also opposed the bill. He said the charter’s current checks and balances have worked well for more than 50 years and that the council had lost its “moral legitimacy” after voters rejected four of its members in June. “Constitutional changes should not be undertaken lightly,” Wilson said.

What’s next: The council closed the public hearing. The bill will come up for a vote at the council’s next meeting.