By Dr. Tom Ferleman.

[Editor’s note: Seventh State is pleased to present guest blogs from candidates for office.  The views here are those of the candidate and not of David Lublin or Adam Pagnucco.]

When I was growing up, Montgomery County was one of the wealthiest counties in the whole country.  Many of us remember when Montgomery County’s transportation infrastructure was second to none. Our schools were always ranked number one. We were the envy of the nation. Today, we’re thrilled when we’re in the top ten on any list.

Even Councilmember Craig Rice admitted that the Council no longer holds the County in such high regard.

In March of 2015, it was reported that while stumping in Germantown for more funds for the education budget, Rice told an audience, “We did not want to acknowledge, for a very long time, the fact that we had poor people coming into Montgomery County and that Montgomery County was changing.”

As was reported by the Germantown Pulse on March 19, 2015: [Rice] contends that County leaders waited a long time before we changed the perception of Montgomery County as a being full of millionaires who could afford whatever they wanted. “That was never a reality. We just never acknowledged it.”

It’s as if the County Council doesn’t understand how government works. Montgomery County lags the region in recovering pre-recession job levels. Despite six consecutive years of positive job growth across the region, Montgomery County had 0.6 percent (2,964) fewer jobs in March 2016 compared to the same month in 2006, indicating that job losses sustained during the Great Recession have not been fully recovered. In contrast, the wider Washington, DC metro area added 191,718 new jobs over the decade. Three jurisdictions together accounted for 70 percent of the region’s job expansion: The District of Columbia (82,397), Loudoun County (32,081) and Fairfax County (19,550).

While average may be good enough for some Councilmembers, for me, it’s not a passing grade. We must take active measures to boost our competitive advantage in the region.

If elected to the County Council, I will work to develop the mechanisms to make it easier for businesses to operate in the County (i.e. lower taxes, easier permitting and licensing, less traffic congestion, and a favorable education pipeline). While growing jobs locally contributes to providing a better quality of life, it also creates an entrepreneurial culture that promotes economic development for everyone.

Dr. Tom Ferleman is a Republican candidate for Montgomery County Council in District 2.

By Dr. Tom Ferleman.

[Editor’s note: Seventh State is pleased to present guest blogs from candidates for office.  The views here are those of the candidate and not of David Lublin or Adam Pagnucco.]

The County Council has raised taxes, overspent the budget and failed to grow new jobs locally. Montgomery County lost jobs while everyone around us was gaining them.

The pace and scale of property-tax increases over the last decade in Montgomery County are overwhelming. Since 1990, residential property taxes here have grown more than twice as fast as the state’s median household income. Residential property taxes now eat up an average of 6.4 percent of a typical household income in Montgomery County. In 1990, that share was 3.6 percent.  In this growing bite of household income lies the pain currently felt by homeowners, whose family budgets have been thrown into disarray.

Montgomery County taxpayers are paying more for schools which are below historic standards, roads which are more congested, and services which are stretched to the point of breaking. What are we paying for?

More often than not, when citizens talk about cutting taxes, some Councilmembers argue, “but how are we going to pay for services…” This is a narrow-minded answer to a reasonable question. We don’t have to cut services in order to roll back the recent tax increases.  In most municipalities, taxable revenue is based on a 60/40 split. Communities often receive 60 percent of their budgetary revenue from residential property taxes and 40 percent from commercial or business-based taxes.

However, in Montgomery County, that taxable revenue is based on an 80/20 split. That is, a whopping 80 percent of our taxable revenue comes from residential properties and only 20 percent from commercial properties.

In the past three years, Germantown has lost over 1,200 jobs, while a disproportionately high number of women in Montgomery Village have lost jobs in the same time frame. Property tax increases, an anti-business climate, excessive regulations and gridlock have harmed families.

Our families are bearing the burden of Montgomery County government’s entire budget on their backs. Property taxes have become a second mortgage that homeowners can never pay off – and an endless expense that grows more costly each year. When I was growing up, the family home was a retirement asset; now it’s a county tax asset. My strategy focuses on building our commercial tax base by growing businesses so that we can reduce the weight of residential property taxes.

Dr. Tom Ferleman is a Republican candidate for Montgomery County Council in District 2.

By Dr. Tom Ferleman.

[Editor’s note: Seventh State is pleased to present guest blogs from candidates for office.  The views here are those of the candidate and not of David Lublin or Adam Pagnucco.]

For a decade or so, I’ve grown increasingly concerned for our community. Every morning, thousands of people crawl down I-270 for jobs in Virginia and D.C., jobs that were once in Montgomery County. Those jobs aren’t here anymore. They’ve migrated mostly to Northern Virginia.  A commute that should take only 30 minutes now can take upwards of two hours.

Indeed, every jurisdiction surrounding Montgomery County, with the exception of Prince Georges County, has added jobs over the last ten years. Montgomery County, according to the County’s own Planning Department’s analysis of 2016 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, has lost almost 3,000 jobs.

While 3,000 jobs lost may not seem like a lot over ten years, compare that figure to the average number of jobs gained by the five surrounding jurisdictions over the same ten years. That number is 34,274; an average gain of 34,000 jobs including Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Howard counties and the District of Colombia.

Since August 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported a rapid decline in employment and wages in Montgomery County. According to the data, Montgomery County lost more jobs from August 2013 to 2016 (an estimated 1,250 jobs) than it did during the Sub-Prime Mortgage Collapse leading to the Great Recession (an estimated 1,000).

Not only has Montgomery County lost jobs, clearly our current elected officials haven’t done much to attract new jobs either. Perhaps it has something to do with the anti-business ideology enacted by the County Council over the last decade?

The County showed just 1.1 percent job growth from 2015 to 2016 — the lowest of all area counties.

And how does the County Council respond? What do they do when thousands of jobs are lost across the County? They raise property taxes a dramatic nine percent last year, followed by another three percent increase this year.

As if that’s not enough, they increased the Recordation Tax; that’s a tax on buying and selling your home. And now they’re trying to do it again this year. Who does that?  The last thing you do when people are struggling is to take more money from them.

I will return homeownership to its rightful place as a family investment asset. I will work to reduce traffic congestion in order to return precious hours in the day to local families and I will fight to #BringJobsHome so that we can boost economic development and establish a work-where-you-live culture in our community.

Dr. Tom Ferleman is a Republican candidate for Montgomery County Council in District 2.

By Dr. Tom Ferleman.

[Editor’s note: Seventh State is pleased to present guest blogs from candidates for office.  The views here are those of the candidate and not of David Lublin or Adam Pagnucco.]

In order to #BringJobsHome to Montgomery County, we must actively recruit anchor companies and top-tier mid-size businesses that will help expand economic development in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) while also fostering family-owned small business entrepreneurship and innovation.

GROW LOCAL JOBS

My five point Jobs Plan to #BringJobsHome to Montgomery County is one of the most significant ways to increase opportunity and decrease poverty. Both public and private stakeholders in the County must come together to reach agreement and take action to make the economy grow and create local income opportunities for more people.

We must make it easier for businesses to operate in the County. Otherwise they will continue to choose other locations to operate.  Advancing our competitiveness in the region is essential to giving people opportunities to increase their wages and strengthen their chances for meaningful and stable employment. Furthermore, growing jobs locally provides a better quality of life, increased lifestyle choices, better neighborhood engagement, healthier nutrition, fitness, and family -time and an overall culture that promotes local families and communities.

The number one uncertainty in business is time. While businesses can plan for cost, taxes, and fees, they struggle to plan for the time it will take to start and complete a project. We must reduce the time it takes to process permits, gain approval, and achieve a fair return on investment. These changes will strengthen business assurance and draw new smart growth jobs to our community.

ROLL BACK TAX INCREASES

My five point Tax Plan for rolling back tax increases will provide incentives to businesses that expand in Montgomery County and additional credits to residential homeowners, the elderly, and veterans. Families are feeling the pain as budgets have shrunk and flexible spending has diminished. It’s as if people are renting their homes from the government.

In order to return homeownership to its long-term investment value, I will submit a bill to establish a supplemental property tax credit for homeowners whose household income as compared to their tax bill puts an undue burden on their quality of life.  My plan will double the maximum property assessment amount used for computing property taxes and change the income formula to allow for eligibility at a higher income level.

As part of my #BringJobsHome Plan, I will introduce a ten-year sliding tax credit available to businesses that increase their square footage and the number of full-time employees. As businesses grow, the credit will increase to incentivize local growth. An additional “hometown” credit will be added for businesses that have been in Montgomery County for over ten years.

REDUCE TRAFFIC CONGESTION

My five point Transportation Plan calls for the County to adopt a culture of smart planning, innovation, rapid implementation and efficient execution that focuses on capacity management. Flexible, community-sensitive design should replace by-the-book engineering that inhibits rapid improvements. I will solve problems with innovation focused on results rather than time-consuming studies. Rapidly implemented on-the-ground fixes will be adjusted in light of experience, and we should move on quickly if they don’t work. Our primary concern should be to alleviate traffic congestion as both an economic and quality of life benefit.

We must integrate technology companies, land developers, regional partners and citizens to lead Maryland in innovative traffic management. We must prepare for the introduction of autonomous vehicles, traffic flow timing, sensor-based traffic lights, and adjustable self-governing speed limits for both mass-transit and individual car drivers to ensure community safety concerns are addressed and implementation is efficient, cost-effective, and first and foremost, reduces traffic congestion.

An investment in infrastructure is an investment in jobs. Therefore, I support research into building a second crossing over the Potomac and following through with constructing Mid-County Highway Extended (M-83).  Transportation improvements must translate to new business imperatives. Smart growth requires an economic and rural balance that maximizes the social-cultural diversity of our community and benefits every citizen equally.

FUND A ROBUST EDUCATION PIPELINE

My five point Education Plan focuses on preparing students for jobs in our community. A sustainable education pipeline begins with a well-funded school system. We must support strong, family-first early childhood education that prepares young children for success throughout their academic years. It continues with the highest-quality elementary, middle and high school education, all focused on preparing students for success in college and beyond.

We must think locally and act globally; the nations of the world are here. Montgomery County is a transient community. Many people move here for government jobs and eventually return to their homes. This varied culture has always ensured that we are a diverse, adaptable, creative and welcoming community. We must develop an education pipeline that maximizes our geographic uniqueness, sees diversity as an opportunity for creativity and allows students to grow as citizens of the world.

If we want the best schools, we must be willing to pay for the best talent, resources, and time. Across nearly all measures, our community ranks in the top ten in terms of education but we are rarely number one. We must leap to the front of the room and capture the flag of success by recruiting the best and brightest teachers in the world. Teaching is a calling not just a paycheck; our community understands that and is willing to support our teachers as they dream big and achieve greatness.

CONCLUSION

My plan for Montgomery County is challenging; some might even call it a “bridge too far.” Others will even say that it is too hard. I would respond that our elected officials are hired to do hard things. We expect them to forecast a measurable and emboldened vision and then carry it out. But that’s not what we currently have in District 2. I want to represent my community in measurable ways. Our future requires bold leadership that is willing to look beyond the election cycles and find ways to work across political, geographic, policy and budgetary constraints. I am that leader with a measurable plan for the future of our community.

Dr. Tom Ferleman is a Republican candidate for Montgomery County Council in District 2.