Most taxpayers will applaud the absence of increases in property and income taxes. Mr. Leopold made good on his campaign promise to hold the line on these levies, even as tax revenue from property sales plummeted. Instead, Mr. Leopold proposes higher fees and an increase in the hotel tax to boost revenue by $11 million. Many taxpayers will find it more expensive to do business with the county.

 

For schools, the budget proposal is a disaster, and parents of school-aged children will have mixed feelings about Mr. Leopold's austerity. They will find fewer teachers and staff this fall. But since most of the county's households don't have children enrolled in public schools, we suspect the outcry won't be enough to cause Mr. Leopold serious political harm.

His rhetoric about schools, though, deserves more analysis. He boasts that he gave the schools 95 percent of what they asked for, but the other 5 percent amounts to $51 million. As payroll accounts for 80 percent of the school budget, the cuts will have to come in personnel.

Mr. Leopold funded a 6 percent pay raise for teachers, but didn't fund the increased costs for their health care and retirement. He didn't fund any special education positions, leaving Superintendent Kevin Maxwell scrambling to find the money to meet federal mandates. Mr. Leopold funded only three positions - principal, custodian and secretary - for the new Gambrills Elementary School, leaving the school system to find $670,000 to pay for teachers and counselors. The allocation could very well be the best the county executive could do under the circumstances - but it is disingenuous to imply that the budget proposal covers the basics for education.

The schools can make do with the money they have - they always do. But parents cannot expect better facilities, adequate supplies or plentiful teachers. Education continues to demand more money from county government, partly because of unfunded mandates from the state and federal governments and partly because we all want a better education system, which doesn't come cheap. That's a harsh reality and not Dr. Maxwell's fault.

To his credit, Mr. Leopold is steadfast in trying to cut back, and is not simply turning to taxpayers to fund their government at current levels - that's what the voters wanted when they elected him. His budget is well crafted in that respect, but Mr. Leopold is wrong to shift the blame for the inevitable effects of a bad economy to school officials.

The County Council will now have the opportunity to revise the budget, but we doubt it will find any more money in the till than Mr. Leopold did.