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Frederick County commissioners have thrown a curveball into Del. Galen R. Clagett's mission to financially help the county's 12 municipalities.

The Frederick County Delegation to the General Assembly has introduced a bill, proposed by Clagett (D-Dist. 3A) of Frederick, that stipulates how much money the county has to give municipalities each year.

Under the so-called "tax equity program," the county gives the towns money to pay for services that the county does not provide inside town limits. The money pays for services such as road maintenance, planning and zoning, police, and parks and recreation.

Town leaders depend on the money to provide services their residents pay for through the county taxes they pay.

Frederick County commissioners set the amount of money they will give using a formula based on town population and the services they provide to determine how much money towns should receive from the tax equity program.

Clagett is proposing a change. His bill stipulates that the amount of money commissioners will have to grant to each municipality must not be lower than $6.5 million, the amount given in fiscal 2008.

The amount would increase if the county's property tax rate exceeds the constant yield rate set by the state. The constant yield rate is the amount commissioners should charge in taxes to collect the same amount of revenue as in the current fiscal year.

Commissioners contend that stipulating how much money they should give the towns goes against the formula the county uses.

Since members of the House Ways and Means Committee are scheduled to hold a hearing on Clagett's House Bill 476 at 1 p.m. today in Annapolis, commissioners have sent a letter to the committee asking that they not pass it.

"Delegate Galen Clagett and the Frederick County Delegation have introduced this bill with no discussion with the Frederick County Commissioners and no local public hearing or vetting process," the letter states. "...The Frederick County Commissioners do not wish to bring this debate before the state legislature. Instead we would like to keep this discussion local between the County Commissioners, the municipalities and our delegation. Should this bill advance, it will impede all future local discussion among county and municipal officials about tax equity which has been agreed upon and consistently funded for the past 20 years or more."

Commissioners have also sent a letter to delegation members and town leaders suggesting they have a joint meeting to discuss the bill. The time and date of the meeting has not been set.

Meanwhile, Clagett said he sees no need for a meeting, saying that state lawmakers has the power to sponsor a bill without holding a public hearing in the county. The hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee allows residents to speak.

"There is no need to have a hearing anywhere else," he said. "Nothing mandates that we have to hold a public hearing."

Clagett said the reason he is proposing the legislation is because of the controversy that erupted last year between commissioners and municipal leaders over the tax equity program.

It started when the state cut $18 million from Frederick County's share of "highway user fees," which is money collected from gasoline taxes, car sales taxes and vehicle registration fees paid by residents. The money is usually distributed by the state to counties and municipalities to fix roads and plow snow. After the cut, the county was left with $491,000.

To make up the loss, commissioners kept some of the tax equity money they would have given to the towns.

Clagett said he was appalled.

"They treated the municipalities as second-class citizens," he said. "All I'm trying to do is protect the municipalities. Frederick city is my district and I represent the taxpayers of the city. These people [commissioners] are at war with their own municipalities. I wouldn't be involved if it wasn't so. I'm trying to protect the taxpayers in my district."

Clagett said his support of the tax equity program dates back to the 1980s, when he served as president of the Frederick Board of County Commissioners. It was under his board that the tax equity program was adopted.

E-mail Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@gazette.net.