Tag: comptroller
Open comptroller seat attracts trio of candidates
For the first time in 20 years, Maryland’s incumbent state comptroller will not be on the ballot next year. The race to succeed chief tax collector Peter Franchot as he runs for governor has already attracted a trio of serious candidates who have hit the campaign trail.
Read MoreAudit finds state tax information not always verified, refund checks not controlled, sensitive taxpayer information not protected
The agency that collects most Maryland taxes had lax controls over granting tax credits and refund checks, and in one case issued a $101,000 refund that wasn’t due, state auditors found. The comptroller’s Revenue Administration Division also had computer programming errors and did not adequately protect sensitive taxpayer information, according to an audit report.
Read MoreNFL strike could cost Maryland $40 million in state revenues
If negotiations between the NFL Players’ Association and team owners are unsuccessful in ending the current lockout, Maryland stands to miss out on as much as $42 million in revenues from the lost football season, according to a study done by Comptroller Peter Franchot and the Bureau of Revenue Estimates.
Read MoreBlog: Schaefer remembered by the Board of Public Works
Wednesday’s Board of Public Works meeting started with a tribute to one of the people who had been a fixture on the board for 16 years: Gov. William Donald Schaefer, who died on Monday.
Schaefer sat on the board when he was governor, from 1987 to 1995, and when he was comptroller, from 1999 to 2007.
Read MoreComptroller’s race: Campbell says he’d be a better financial watchdog than Franchot
A new $87 million computer system has nearly paid for itself in tracking down delinquent taxpayers, says Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot. But Republican challenger William Campbell says the Maryland Integrated Tax System is destined to cost almost three times as much – a claim a Franchot aide called untrue — and also raises privacy concerns as it interfaces with other state databases.
Read MoreBoard of Public Works approves $72 million for new helicopters, but questions lack of bids
After criticism from Comptroller Peter Franchot about the lack of bids, the Board of Public Works unanimously approved a $72 million contract to replace six of the Maryland State Police’s aging fleet of medevac helicopters with new ones from Agusta Aerospace Corp.
The purchase of the new helicopters has been hotly debated for two years, after a crash of one of the department’s current Dauphin helicopters killed state police personnel on board. There was general agreement that the aging helicopters need to be replaced, but there were arguments over how to do it, where the money would come from, and what was needed to improve safety.
Read MoreFederal partnerships help Maryland collect in $160 million in back taxes
Technology and federal partnerships with the comptroller’s office helped Maryland collect more than $160 million in taxes that the state was owed, but were nearly impossible to get.
These funds are all back taxes, but Comptroller Peter Franchot said the state had not anticipated collecting them because litigation and other thorny issues stood in the way of the state taking conventional approaches to get its money.
Read MoreComptroller hopeful Campbell says Md. at risk for financial catastrophe”
Bill Campbell has been the chief financial officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, for the Coast Guard and for Amtrak, and now he’s looking to become CFO for the state of Maryland.
“I think Maryland is in very severe financial straits,” Campbell said. That’s why the Republican is running for elected office for the first time, hoping to challenge Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot in the fall. “I’m deeply concerned that we are about to have a financial catastrophe.”
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