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(a) Commissioners appointed from Prince George's County other than those who are full- time members of the governing body of the county except where compensation for the performance of these duties is prohibited by law, shall receive fifty dollars ($50.00) per diem compensation for each day in which they attend a meeting or business of the commission for which official minutes are kept or for meetings officially authorized by the commission; provided that in no event shall a commissioner receive more than fifty dollars ($50.00) for any day, but every commissioner shall be reimbursed for his necessary and proper expenses incurred in the performance of his duties as a commissioner separate from the per diem compensation.
(b) (1) (i) Except as provided in item (ii) of this paragraph, the members of the Washington Suburban Transit Commission from Montgomery County receive the following salaries:
1. Chairman $2,875.
2. Commissioners $2,500.
(ii) A commissioner from Montgomery County who also serves as a member or an alternate of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority must receive the following salary:
1. Chairman $18,500.
2. Member or alternate $17,500.
(2) A Commissioner who is an elected official or a full-time County employee must not receive compensation for service on the Commission.
(c) The Secretary of Transportation, or the Secretary’s designee, may not receive compensation for service as a principal member of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board of Directors. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-7; 1965, ch. 870, § 1; 1966, ch. 542, § 1; 1985, ch. 784, § 1; 1990, ch. 191, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 1, § 1.)
Editor’s note—See County Attorney Opinion dated 2/12/01 which states that the Council cannot change a public official’s salary during the official’s term in office. Changes to salaries of members of a Board or Commission should be made prospective.
2001 L.M.C., ch. 1, § 2, states: The amendment to County Code Section 87-7, enacted in Section 1 of this Act, applies to any Washington Suburban Transit Commissioner from Montgomery County who is appointed or designated to serve as a member or alternate member of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority on or after this Act takes effect [March 13, 2001].
A majority of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. The affirmative vote of a majority of the commission shall be necessary to take any action. A majority for determining a quorum or for taking any action shall include at least 1 member appointed by each county, 1 member appointed by the governor, and the secretary of transportation or the secretary's designee. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-8; 1965, ch. 870, § 1; E.S. 1992, ch. 3, § 1.)
Meetings of the commission shall be held at such places and at such times as the commission shall from time to time prescribe. Meetings of the commission, except executive sessions, shall be open to the public. Public hearings shall be held upon at least thirty (30) days' notice, such notice to be given by publication in at least one (1) newspaper printed and published in Montgomery County and one (1) newspaper printed and published in Prince George's County. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-9; 1965, ch. 870, § 1.)
(A) No commissioner, nor any other officer, employee, agent or consultant, shall have any interest in any person or company engaged in the business of providing public transportation in the district or within the metropolitan area in which the district is located, or in the manufacture or sale of passenger transportation equipment or facilities.
(B) No commissioner nor any agent, officer, employee or consultant thereof, shall contract with the district or be interested in, either directly or indirectly, any contract with the district or in the sale of any property, either real or personal, to the district.
(C) Any violation of this provision shall be a misdemeanor and punished as provided by law.
(D) All commissioners are public officials as defined under the Maryland Public Ethics Law and are subject to the restrictions and requirements set forth in Title 15 of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended and supplemented. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-10; 1965, ch. 870, § 1; 2012, ch. 433, § 1.)
Any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the commission shall:
(a) Cooperate and participate, in accordance with the processes and procedures hereinafter provided, with an authority to be created by interstate compact between Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, in the formulation by that authority of that portion of its transit plan relating to the transit facilities and services to be provided within the district and in the revision and amendment thereof from time to time;
(b) Negotiate with the authority, the Northern Virginia Transportation District and the District of Columbia an agreement for the allocation among such governments and the district of the costs to be incurred by the authority in providing transit facilities and services; and
(c) Provide, in the manner hereinafter set forth, funds to meet the obligations allocated to the district pursuant to such agreement. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-11; 1965, ch. 870, § 1.)
(a) The district is authorized to enter into contracts or agreements with the authority pursuant to which the authority undertakes to provide the transit facilities and services to the district, specified in a mass transit plan adopted by the authority, in consideration for the undertaking by the district to contribute, such sums as shall be agreed on, to the capital required for the construction or acquisition of the transit facilities, for debt service requirements and for meeting expenses and obligations incurred in the operation of the facilities. The district may not enter into any contracts or agreements with respect to transit facilities and service in either Montgomery or Prince George's Counties unless the governing body of the affected county adopts a resolution approving the transit facilities and service proposed to be provided in its county, the terms and provisions of the contract or agreement and the allocation between the counties of the obligations created by the contract or agreement. The failure of one of the counties to grant approval does not preclude the district from entering into a contract or agreement for transit facilities and service to be provided to the other county, if that county grants the required approvals. Notwithstanding § 87-8, the commission may authorize such a contract or agreement with the unanimous approval of the 2 commissioners appointed by the county executive from the county granting the requisite approvals, the commissioner appointed by the governor from the affected county, and the secretary of transportation and such 4 commissioners shall constitute a quorum of the commission for the purposes of considering such a contract or agreement. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-12; 1965, ch. 870, § 1; 1968, ch. 727, § 1; 1992, ch. 22, § 1; E.S. 1992, ch. 3, § 1.)
The obligations imposed on the district by the contracts or agreements provided for in § 87-12 shall be guaranteed by Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in the proportions agreed to in the allocations approved under § 87-12. The guarantee shall be made by resolution of the county councils of Montgomery County and Prince George's County and shall be evidenced by the endorsement of the guarantee on the face of the contract or agreement, signed on behalf of each county by the secretary or clerk of the county council or by any officer designated by the county council. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-13; 1965, ch. 870, § 1; 1992, ch. 22, § 1.)
(a) For the purposes of meeting the liability of the district, if any, under the contracts or agreements provided for in § 87-12, retiring revenue anticipation notes, authorized to be issued by § 87-16 and the payment of interest on the notes, and providing funds for the administrative and other expenses and obligations of the district, there shall be levied against all the assessable property within the district, by the county councils of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties annually, a tax sufficient to meet these obligations and expenses as they mature or become payable. The tax shall be determined, levied, collected and paid over in the following manner:
At least 30 days before the tax levying period of each year, the respective county council shall certify to the commission, by counties, the whole valuation of assessable property within the district. The commission shall then determine the amounts necessary to be raised by each county for the ensuing year. The amounts shall be determined by the allocation of obligations agreed to under § 87-12 except that the administrative expenses of the commission shall be borne by each county, as set forth in § 87-15, after deducting all amounts in hand available for such purposes. The commission shall determine the number of cents per $100 necessary for each county to raise the amounts required and shall certify that amount to both county councils. The county councils in their next annual levy shall levy a tax on all land and improvements and any other property assessed for county tax purposes within the district. The tax shall be levied and collected as county taxes are levied and collected, and have the same priority right, bear the same interest and penalties and in every respect be treated the same as county taxes. The tax levied, for the ensuing year shall be collected by the respective tax collecting authorities, and every 60 days they shall remit the whole amount of tax collected to the commission.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of the section, the county councils of Montgomery County and Prince George's County may, in order to satisfy their separate guarantees of the obligations of the district under § 87-13, levy any tax which they are authorized to levy and use any available revenues or funds and may reduce the number of cents per $100 to be levied against assessable property as certified by the commission to take into account the use of the alternative funds.
(c) Nothing herein shall be deemed to be a limitation on the power of either the county council of Montgomery County or of Prince George's County to issue bonds or other obligations, in accordance with applicable provisions of law, for the purposes set forth in subsection (a) of this section or to satisfy their separate guarantees of the obligations of the district under § 87-13 or to levy taxes to discharge the obligations of any such bonds or other obligations. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-14; 1965, ch. 870, § 1; 1968, ch. 727, § 2; 1992, ch. 22, §
The commission annually shall submit to the county councils and county executives of Montgomery County and Prince George's County a budget of its requirements for administrative expenses for the next ensuing year. There shall be included in the budget as an expense of the district, the Maryland share of the expenses of the Joint Commission to Consider Matters Relating to Passenger Carrier Facilities in the Washington Metropolitan Area, which joint commission has been empowered by joint resolution of the General Assembly of Maryland to negotiate an interstate compact between Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia dealing with transportation. The obligation of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, after budget approval, to appropriate for the administrative budget of the commission shall be allocated equally between the counties. The budget shall be limited solely to the administrative expenses of the commission and shall not include any funds for construction or acquisition of transit facilities or performing of transit service. The respective governing bodies shall have the right to review and to approve in whole or in part the administrative budget of the commission, and the agreement of the governing bodies of both counties shall be necessary before the commission's administrative budget may be reduced. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 72-15; 1965, ch. 870, § 1; 1970, ch. 467, § 1; 1972, ch. 655, § 1; 1992, ch. 22, § 1.)
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