Harford Council Cuts Funding for Conastone Battery Facility Fight, Road Safety, School, Cybersecurity

The Harford County Council on Tuesday voted to cut funding for essential quality-of-life improvements in County Executive Bob Cassilly’s proposed FY 2027 budget.

A majority of the council voted to cut $500K from the county’s law department. Those funds would have been used, in part, to hire an expert in federal environmental law for possible legal action against the Conastone Battery Energy Storage Facility proposed in northern Harford County. Citizens have raised alarms about damage to the Deer Creek watershed and fire dangers from the 500 MW project, which is being considered by the Maryland Public Service Commission.

The council also cut $5M from funds set aside to purchase rights-of-way and easements that enable road safety improvements countywide and land for a new school in Aberdeen. The school will be needed sooner than expected because the council waived the five-year waiting period and allowed apartments and other housing to proceed on land annexed by the city of Aberdeen near IronBirds Stadium. Funds cut from this line item known as “site acquisition” cannot be added to the school system’s budget but will prevent these projects from moving forward.

At a time when the U.S. government has been warned that China and Iran are using AI for highly sophisticated attacks on cybersecurity, the council’s $1.5M cut to the county’s IT department risks a potential shutdown of public services.

Except for the cuts to site acquisition, these cuts made by the council cannot be used to add funds to any area of the budget except for schools. It is unclear whether additional cuts are planned before the council must approve the budget in mid-June.

“In an attempt to curry favor with the teachers’ union, Council President Vincenti first asked me to add $5M on top of the 9.2% increase I already have planned for the school system, but I will not yield to special interests; my budget is the result of careful decision-making to balance the needs of all citizens,” County Executive Cassilly said. “Now, the council president is presiding over reckless cuts that will harm families, seniors, veterans and all the communities we serve. I would like to thank councilmembers Giangiordano and Reilly for voting against these dangerous cuts and urge the rest of the council to reconsider and put our citizens ahead of their political ambitions.”