Your 7/12/26 Council Agenda
Happy Sunday, Ward One
How was everyone’s Fourth of July? Since my last newsletter, we’ve had an election (congrats to the victors), celebrated America’s 250th birthday, and watched our national team get knocked out of the World Cup. Throughout it all, downtown Annapolis was bustling! It warmed my heart to see neighbors cheering and celebrating together.
Here’s to more community spirit, meaningful summer fun, and an ever-improving democracy! Speaking of which, my little slice of our city’s democratic improvement is the Finance Committee, and we have big ideas for programming there, now that we have a permanent—and eminently qualified—Director of Finance in place.
Here are the top 3 things you need to know in Annapolis:
Tonight is the kickoff of Maryland Hall’s outdoor concert series, Bloomhaven, with a Grateful Dead-inspired band. Details at the end.
Tomorrow we’ll hear public comment on legislation reforming the Art in Public Places Commission, an updated Forest Conservation Act, and parking in front of driveways.
The city is hosting listening sessions about the next Police Chief this Wednesday at the Boys & Girls Club of Annapolis and Thursday at First Baptist Church.
Updates from Harry
At our last council meeting, we formally confirmed Karen Ajayi as Director of Finance for the city. Director Ajayi has an impressive wealth of knowledge and skills that will make her well suited to leading the city’s financial future. I’m excited to have her on board.
I’m also excited because—for the last almost year since we’ve had a Finance Director—I’ve been writing down ideas of hearings that I want the Finance Committee to dig into. I was initially going to write about one in particular but then figured I’d just share the whole list with you.
These are definitely a mix. Some are about educating members of the council on existing processes, while others are in hopes of making changes. Some are really about state-level processes that have an impact on Annapolis.
These ideas below—presented in no particular order—are just that: ideas. Some will likely end up not being possible or advisable and some will. My hope is that they are all educational and lead to good conversation.
What do you think the Finance Committee should be having hearings on? Let me know.
Payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs)
Public and nonprofit entities do not pay property taxes, but they still use services. Often, to address this discrepancy, they will provide to cities a “payment in lieu of taxes”.
What money does the city receive as payments in lieu of taxes? We get one from the state. I’ve been told that we should get one from HACA but that we waive it each year. Is that true? And then we kind of get one from the county, but it's factored into our tax differential.
Let's walk through how those three are calculated and any others we’re supposed to be getting.
Are these appropriately sized based on other cities that get them (especially from the state)?
Are there nonprofit entities in the city with whom we should pursue PILOTs, like how Johns Hopkins provides a PILOT to Baltimore?
Investing pension funds in building housing
Lots of cities and states are trying to reduce affordable housing construction costs by financing it with funds they’ve invested to pay pensions
Here's a report on it from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
What would it take for us to do this? What are the downsides?
Pied a terre tax
Annapolis has many homes that are not people's primary residences. We can probably all point to a place we know in the neighborhood that’s well maintained but almost always empty.
Applying a tax surcharge to these (especially high value ones) is a very economically efficient tax, and it would encourage more neighbors.
What would it take legally to do that? A state law? A state constitutional amendment?
We should probably bring one of our state delegation for this.
Closing books monthly
The goal here is for the city to reconcile all of its payment and revenue quickly at the end of each month.
It should provide greater transparency for leadership in making decisions and for the Finance Committee in providing oversight.
This was Alderman Thorpe’s request and something he’s been working on in the Audit Committee as well.
How can departments feel like they get more resources if they bring in more revenue?
If more revenue comes in from a department, it goes to the general fund, not necessarily directly to that department’s budget. This can misalign incentives.
I’ve heard from Fire Department staff who are frustrated they don't get more resources even though they're handling more calls, which brings in more EMS billing. One reason Rec and Parks is not maximizing revenue might be because it won't go to support their programs.
What can we do to change that and align those incentives?
This is a management discussion probably with the city manager as much as with Finance.
Automation fund
Most of the city’s budget goes to salaries and benefits, and if we don’t make that more efficient, costs will spiral out of control as other sectors of the economy do get more efficient—something called Baumol’s cost disease
For instance, for how much we spend on mowing grass, we should be buying automated lawnmowers that are hitting the market.
This would be a discussion with Finance and ITS on the creation of a dedicated fund and/or fiscal policy that requires the city to designate a set percentage of the total amount of salaries and benefits to be used each year to automate some city service delivery.
Discussion would focus on how to create a fiscal policy to do this, potential uses for the fund, and appropriate size of percentage
Authority for spending in emergencies
This is just walking the council through how emergency spending happens
For instance, when there's a huge snow storm but only 150K budgeted for snow, we want the mayor and directors to be able to authorize spending more than 150K even though that money is not appropriated. We all agree that should happen, but how does it happen?
What is the legal authority to make sure emergency decisions aren’t held up? But also how do we ensure there are guardrails?
Land value/differential rate tax
Cities in Maryland (but not counties) have the legal authority to set differential tax rates for the land and the improvements on it, including potentially taxing improvements at 0 and only taxing the value of the land.
This has the potential to be more economically efficient by encouraging people to invest in upgrades for their homes and by discouraging land speculators from leaving lots vacant (looking at you, Plumbers Union land next to Park Place).
According to a 2026 Department of Legislative Services report, the comptroller's software is not currently set up for it
You can see that when a state bill was proposed this year to allow counties to do this, that it got wide support from groups as diverse as the Sierra Club, teachers union, and “Baltimoreans for People Oriented Places”. But it was opposed by realtors and the Chamber of Commerce.
Let's hear about why this is beneficial (maybe with some economics researchers or the state Secretary of Housing) and how other cities in other states have done it historically
We would also likely need someone from Comptroller's office
Property tax assessments, especially of vacant land
This is probably just a presentation from the Comptroller's office on their valuation methodologies that we rely on to set property taxes
Prompted by this report on much of Baltimore's vacant properties being underassessed
Maintenance backlog categorization
What do we know about deferred maintenance of city assets?
How are we defining our assets and determining maintenance plans?
I’m sure there will be lots of questions on this eventually, and it’ll be worth multiple hearings, but we need to start with a basic overview
Central services Director Matthew Flinner
Overhead for capital projects
In each capital project, you’ll see a line called “city overhead”. For instance, on page 46 (as numbered) of the proposed capital budget, you’ll see $30,000 of the $630,000 electric generators capital project.
The Finance Committee would like an explanation of how overhead on capital projects is calculated and where we can see it spent in the operating budget.
And then we’ll have a discussion with Public Works, Central Services, and Finance on what would be the ideal way to calculate it for projects
Splitting fees for residents/non-residents
I think it’s a very reasonable proposition that people who don’t pay city taxes should pay more for our services, and people who do live here should pay less.
We’ve long had free two-hour parking for residents in garages, and mooring balls have a split rate based on whether or not the person lives here.
This budget we split fees for short-term rental licensing based on whether or not someone lives in the home, and we split fees for some Rec and Parks activities based on whether the kids doing them live here.
What other fees could we split based on someone's residency status?
That’s a lot of ideas! But I didn’t get elected to keep doing things the same way we’ve always done them. If you have more ideas, I hope you’ll share them. And you can always tune into our Finance Committee meetings on the city’s YouTube channel.
This week and every week, I’m grateful for the honor of representing you and our whole community. Never hesitate to contact me at harry@harrymhuntley.com.
City council agenda
Call To Order
Mayor Littmann
Moment of Silence
Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Littmann
Roll Call
City Clerk Watkins-Eldridge
Approval of Agenda
Ceremonial Items
This meeting we’ll be presenting the Arnett-Finlayson and the police department’s scholarships.
Update from the Mayor
Mayor Littmann
Reports by Committees
Comments by the General Public
Remember, you can come to any city council meeting to tell us about what’s important to you and your neighborhood! Register here or just show up.
Presentation
The Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis is giving their quarterly report.
Public Hearings
O-14-26 Art in Public Places - Amending Definitions, Duties, and Membership
As you may remember, the Art in Public Places Commission has had some troubles over the years, so we voted to temporarily disband it. That Commission has not yet been reappointed. Most importantly, this legislation changes the commission’s role from being the decisionmaker of funds to being advisory with the Planning and Zoning Director making the decision. I have already submitted quite a few amendments on this and will be submitting even more. I hope folks will come share their opinion on what has been a contentious issue.
O-16-26 Forest Conservation - Program Amendments to Conform with State Law
The city’s Forest Conservation Act requirements have long been stricter than state law. The state updated their law in 2024; one notable change is the goal shifting from “no net less” of forest to “net gain” of forest. This is a pretty intricate piece of legislation that we dug into in the Environmental Matters committee. I’m generally supportive and am working with the sponsors on tweaking a couple amendments to balance ensuring trees get protected and not holding up projects for no reason. Also, there’s an amendment to require the plans be published in the newspaper, which I think is a little silly if we’re trying to save trees.
O-17-26 Right to Park in Front of Residential Private Driveways
Right now, if you have a driveway and you park in front of it, you get a ticket. I’ve seen this happen repeatedly the residents, and it doesn't feel fair. This legislation aims to fix that by allowing people to park in front of driveways with the express permission of the property’s legal occupant. I support the aim of this. But I want to dig more into the mechanics of how it’s enforced and how we communicate it. Within residential parking districts, will the parking enforcement agents know whether a car has permission to park in front of a driveway just by driving past? Are they going to have to knock on the door and ask every time? Even if we solve that, does allowing cars to park in front of driveways with permission encourage people who don’t know better to park in front of them without permission? This has the potential to really add spaces but could get messy if not done right. It also currently only applies on streets with parking on both sides, which means parking in front of driveways would continue to be illegal in much of Ward One (including my street). I’ve heard lots of strong opinions on both sides of this, so please show up and let me hear yours.
Consent Calendar
Ordinance First Readers
O-12-26 Removing Streets from Special Residential Parking District, Number 5
This removes the following street segments from Special Residential Parking District Number 5:
• Forbes Street, between Monterey Avenue and Giddings Avenue; and
• Monterey Avenue, between Forbes Street and Tucker Street
and leaves these still in the district:
• Annapolis Street, between Taylor Avenue and Melvin Avenue; and
• Giddings Avenue, between Forbes Street and Tucker Street.
I need to get some more information from Alderwoman O’Neill on why exactly this request is being made. But I know the Transportation Advisory Board has recommended changes to this district in the past. I intend to support it on first reader so we can learn more.
O-15-26 Cottage Food Businesses as Home Occupations
City code currently prohibits a wide number of uses of your own home. Repairing bicycles is allowed; repairing cars is not. Cutting multiple people’s hair is prohibited, but cutting one person’s hair is allowed—as long as you’re in the R3 or R4 revitalization zones. Food preparation is currently illegal. This legislation defines and allows the production of “cottage foods”, which are those that don’t require refrigeration, such as jellies and dry mixes. I’ll be asking to be added as a co-sponsor of this.
Resolution First Readers
R-29-26 Update of Fiscal Year 2027 City Fees
This updates the FY27 fees for City-owned parking facilities and metered spaces, rental operating licenses, moorings, and alcoholic beverage licenses and permits. It’s doing a little bit of cleanup from some fees that we missed updating when we passed the budget, including for downtown parking. I objected to changing those at the last minute because I wanted more time to consider them, which is what we’ll be doing with this legislation.
Resolution Second Readers
R-21-26 Designating City Attorney Anthony P. Kupersmith as Resident Agent for Service of Process
This legislation simply designates our City Attorney as the correct person to accept lawsuits for the city. Code says that we have to name the person by resolution, rather than just saying it’s whoever the city attorney is. We should fix that. In the meantime, I’m going to support this resolution.
Adjournment
Other news you can use
Tonight at 6 PM is the kickoff to Maryland Hall’s summer concert series on the front lawn. BloomHaven will feature two sets from a Grateful Dead-inspired band packed with “extended jams, nonstop dancing, crowd singalongs, and the kind of electric energy that takes over the lawn from the first song to the final encore.”
Tuesday’s HPC hearing has a full docket. Among many other considerations is a living shoreline at St. Mary’s, replacement of curbcut ramps around State Circle, and a rooftop deck on Church Circle.
On Wednesday at the Boys & Girls Club of Annapolis (121 S. Villa Ave) and on Thursday at First Baptist Church of Annapolis (31 W. Washington St), both at 6:30, you can come share your thoughts on the search for our next police chief. More info, including a survey if you can’t make it, here.
Tides and Tunes has been rained out the past two weeks, but the weather is looking clear (and hot) this Thursday. And, if you’re busy Thursday or just prefer Joey Harkum to Timmie Metz, Tuesday is Tunesday.
Dinner Under the Stars has one of its special Saturday concerts on Saturday, July 18—a Motown night starting around 6 PM.
Rec and Parks has a free family fun day at 10 AM on the 18th. It’ll have games, food, outdoor activities, sports and more at Pip Moyer Rec Center.
The Colonial Players' Ten-Minute Play Festival runs the last two weekends of July. It’s seven short plays, all written by local playwrights, in the round, for just $10.
Please send me any events or other information you’d like advertised to your neighbors.
Have a great week, everyone!
Harry