So You Want to Cut the Budget?

In previous posts, I've discussed various means of raising revenue from hiking taxes to adopting slots. Of course, we can always cut the budget too. While many tend to think that there is a lot of fat waiting to be cut from the budget, making the choice of what to cut is not always so easy in reality. Here is a list of potential cuts and associated budget savings (in millions of dollars) provided to me by Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-18):

No state employee salary increase, 62
Eliminate subsidy for retiree prescriptions, 184
Eliminate GF for PAYGO programs, 29
Close four state mental health facilities, 20
Postpone community provider increase, 47
Eliminate new program funding for disabled children, 12
Reduce positions for corrections and juvenile services, 13
Transfer park costs to Program Open Space, 16
Eliminate state grants to private colleges, 64
Eliminate support for state aided educational institutions, 7
Eliminate stem cell research fund, 23
Eliminate Heritage Tax Credit, 25
Delete support of Tourism Board & Baltimore Convention Center, 10
Eliminate biotech and film production tax credits and grants, 13
No rate increase for nursing homes, 20
Apply 2% premium to eligible Medicaid recipients, 19
Level fund higher education (15% tuition increase), 55
Transfer 50% of teacher retirement costs to local governments, 324
Level fund K-12 formulas, 137
Delete state grants for police, 44
Eliminate electric generating property tax grant, 31
Delete Geographic Cost of Education Index, 40
Cut increase in community college grant, 28
Eliminate aging schools program, 11
Delete all K-12 grants outside of Thornton formulas, 51
Delete funding for retiree health care trust fund, 100

All of these cuts combined would get us close to a balanced budget--assuming somehow that the deficit does not rise further in the wake of the real-estate crisis. Montgomery County would have to either make significant cuts of its own or raise property taxes in order to compensate for the decline in state revenue. Montgomery is the largest beneficiary by far of state funding of teacher retirement, the largest item on the list. So don't assume that your taxes won't go up if the state takes an ax to the budget.