Deep Creek Lake Real Estate Blog

School officials make case for new Allegany

2012-01-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

Kristin Harty Barkley Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — The Allegany County Board of Education won’t find out until this spring whether it will receive funding to begin designing a new Allegany High School.

But officials, who pitched the project to Gov. Martin O’Malley and other members of the state’s Board of Public Works on Wednesday, believe they’re making a good case.

“I feel like it went pretty well. They were very interested,” said Superintendent David Cox, who showed state officials poster-size photos of conditions at the 87-year-old building, including its antiquated boiler room and dilapidated auditorium.

“We just wanted to show the age of the building and to support what the architects have told us about it being beyond its useful life.”

Cox, who traveled to Annapolis on Wednesday with all five members of the local Board of Education, as well as several county officials, had about 10 minutes to tell state officials about the Allegany High School project.

The Board of Public Works — made up of O’Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp — heard requests Wednesday for building projects from school systems across the state.

The typically long day of presentations has become known as the “beg-a-thon” because so many school officials plead for funds.

O’Malley announced earlier this month that he plans to ask the Maryland General Assembly to approve more than $370 million in school construction funding in the fiscal year 2013 budget — the second-highest single-year funding level in state history.

Last year, lawmakers approved $250 million for school construction. The General Assembly’s annual 90-day session started Jan. 11.

In December, local school officials pitched the AHS project to the state’s Interagency Committee on School Funding, describing how the BOE, Cumberland City Council and Western Maryland Health System signed off on a land swap deal to allow a new Allegany High School to be built on the site of the former Braddock campus of the hospital.

The cooperative effort has impressed state officials, Cox said.

“I feel positive about it,” said Cox, who planned to stay overnight in Annapolis to attend today’s PACE reception with local legislators. “I don’t take anything for granted though. I think we’ve done about everything we can.”

Members of the Western Maryland Delegation, who are supporting the Allegany High School project, announced Wednesday that they are also taking steps to assure that school systems in rural counties aren’t crippled by state funding cuts this year.

Sen. George Edwards and Delegate Wendell Beitzel said they’re pursuing statewide legislation that would cap funding losses for Allegany and Garrett county school systems, which suffered the biggest state cuts last year.

O’Malley’s FY 2013 budget includes a 5.5 percent cut in funding for Allegany County and an 11.8 percent cut for Garrett County, which is considering closing up to three elementary schools to make ends meet.

“The citizens from these areas have made it clear that these schools are at the heart of the community and closing them would cause irreparable harm for the students and their families,” Beitzel said of Friendsville, Kitzmiller and Dennett Road elementary schools.

Last year, Edwards and Beitzel led legislative efforts to cap a jurisdiction’s funding losses due to the so-called “wealth formula.” But that funding was only good for one year.

“The state really needs to look at how the wealth formula is computed,” Edwards said. “This bill would be a benefit to Garrett and Allegany counties and potentially others if we can get it passed.”

Cox said that school officials appreciate the legislators’ efforts to minimize state funding cuts, which was on the Board of Education’s list of “legislative priorities” for 2012.

Contact Kristin Harty Barkley at kbarkley@times-news.com

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

877-563-5350 - toll free

Maryland Realtors plan to fight O’Malley proposal to cap mortgage tax deduction

2012-01-26T09:42:00.001-05:00

By Associated Press, Published: January 25

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland real estate agents expressed alarm Wednesday at Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to cap state income tax deductions for people who make more than $100,000, a change that would have a big impact on mortgage interest deductions.

Patricia Terrill, president of the Maryland Association of Realtors, said the proposal was just about the only thing that members of the 22,000-strong group were talking about during their annual legislative day in Annapolis.
“Let’s face it, the homeowners have been beat up enough,” said Terrill, wearing a “Save Maryland’s Interest Deduction” sticker. “We need to protect our homeowners.”

Under O’Malley’s plan, a single Maryland taxpayer whose federal adjusted gross income is more than $100,000 would see a 10 percent reduction in the amount they could claim in state income tax deductions. A single earner making more than $200,000 would see a 20 percent reduction.

The governor says while he doesn’t like reducing the deductions, he has said changes in his budget plan would affect only about one in five Maryland taxpayers. O’Malley, a Democrat, says new revenue is badly needed after years of budget cuts due to the recession.

More here.

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

877-563-5350 - toll free

Relying On An Agent

2012-01-25T08:04:00.000-05:00

by Carla Hill

The latest NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed a growing trend among recent buyers.

The latest figures show that 89 percent of buyers purchased their home with the help of a real estate agent or broker. This is a sharp increase from a decade ago in 2001, when only 69 percent of buyers enlisted the help of an agent or broker.

Why do today's buyers buyers choose to work with an agent? Let's look at just a few of the many reasons an agent can be your biggest ally.

More here.

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

877-563-5350 - toll free

Investors buying with cash pressure home prices

2012-01-25T08:03:00.000-05:00

by KERRI PANCHUK

Monday, January 23rd, 2012, 7:51 am

Investors are gobbling up residential real estate with cash, pushing national home prices lower, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

The overall proportion of cash buyers in the housing market soared to a record 33.2%, compared to 29.6% a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the investor class relied heavily on cash to buy homes, with 74% of investors using cash to buy homes in December.

Investors represented 22.8% of home purchases in December alone, up slightly from 22.2% a month earlier.

More here.

Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!

877-563-5350 - toll free

Dogs Saved After Falling Into Lake

2012-01-24T12:49:00.002-05:00

Two dogs fell through the thin ice on Deep Creek Lake on Sunday, and a number of professional rescue personnel came to their rescue. A call came into 911 at about 6 p.m. reporting a dog having possibly fallen through the ice, and that the animal had been barking for some hours. The dog fell in around the Patterson Marina in the North Glade Cove, according to the report. Rescue personnel responded and found not one but two trapped canines barely keeping their heads above the frigid water.

Deep Creek Lake Real Estate Blog

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