The Bureau of Revenue Estimates (BRE) produces high quality budget data and revenue forecasting, some of which is valuable to municipalities during budget preparation time. BRE releases data on important revenue streams which the State shares with municipalities including income tax, the transportation trust fund (which houses the highway user revenue account), and program open space.
In the weeks and months preceding the July 1, 2020 deadline for municipalities to pass their budget, MML fielded many calls from our members asking for guidance on how to address revenue shortfalls as a result of the pandemic in their FY 21 budgets. MML pointed these questions to the experts at BRE to assist our municipalities with revenue projections.
SB 314 adds staff capacity to BRE allowing them to produce more reports and forecasts. In addition the bill creates a new website which will serve as a platform to house the BRE data. This increase in resources will result in more information that municipalities can use in their budget process.
For more information please contact Bill Jorch, billj@mdmunicipal.org