Association

THi

COMMUNITY

P O S T O F F I C E B O X 8 3 4 - R O C K V I L L E . M A R Y L A N D 2 0 8 4 8 - 0 8 3 4

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don 7 have any." -Alice Walker

Dear Friend of Twinbrook, ' "* June 5, 2012

I f you look around Twinbrook and Rockville these days, it is clear that big changes are coming. Those of us near the Twinbrook Metro have seen a new parking garage go up at the end of Halpine, just the tip of the iceberg as many new developments are in the pipeline in Twinbrook.

We continue to be pro-active in tracking these developments and in tracking challenges to supporting issues such as the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) which protects our schools from overcrowding. Results from the Rockville Pike Plan and the APFO committee are still not before the Mayor and Council even though more and more projects are being approved. TCA now has a deep institutional memory on many of these issues that is proving more and more valuable as we move forward.

As we wait for pending issues to come active again, we have focused a good deal of our efforts this year on defending good government practices that ensure everyone a place in the decision making process.

A new and unexpected issue that will definitely affect us is the possibility of a new tax to ftind County transit projects. Twinbrook will need to work together with our sister civic organizations in other parts of the county to address this issue.

Many thanks to those of you who support Twinbrook with your membership in the TCA. Now that we've moved from seeing plans in writing to seeing plans in concrete, it is even clearer that we need a strong Citizens Association to bring our neighborhood's concerns to our elected officials. Your support makes that possible.

Come say hello this Saturday at the Twinbrook Community Recreation Center. TCA wil l have a table there and we will be glad to talk to you and hear what you are concerned about.

Sincerely, " ; ^

Christina Y. Ginsberg, President, Twinbrook Citizens Association

Upcoming Events Twinbrook in the Parks - June 9 Contact the Twinbrook Community Recreation Center for more information about this free event. National Night Out-August 7 I f you would like help in starting a National Night Out Party for your street or block, contact the TCA or the City of Rockville Police Department (KMatney@rockvillemd.gov). This is a great way to get to know your neighbors. Twinbrook hosts more National Night Out parties than any other section of the City. Financial Seminar on Tax Credits and Rebates for Homeowners ~ Date in August to be determined, check the listserv^

Taxes and Fees Rising With the difficuh economic climate, the City of Rockville

is raising most taxes and fees for services in FY 13. The increases were recently adopted by the Mayor and Council in the budget approval process.

8% I N C R E A S E in water usage rates: The increase will be used to fiind both operating costs and capital improvements to the City's water system. The City wil l continue to use a three tiered system for water rates so that high users wi l l be charged at a higher rate.

9% INCREASE in the sewer charge: Unless you have a separate meter to measure what water you use outside the house, the City's sewer charge is based directly on your water usage.

20% INCREASE in the ready to serve charge: This charge is assessed regardless of your water usage. It is based on the size of the pipe providing water to your house.

26% INCREASE in the " E R U " fee for storm water runoff from your property. This fee funds storm water management projects. Each house is assessed one ERU fee. Large commercial properties are assessed a multiple of the residential fee based on the size of the impervious surface on their property.

Montgomery County and Montgomery College propenies within the City of Rockville have declined to pay the ERU fee.

$500,000 transfer to the Parking Fund: The City wi!! again subsidize the operating expenses of the Town Center Parking Garages by transferring money fi-om the City's general fiind to the parking fund.

The City was recently involved in a lawsuit with the builders and operators of the Town Center garages. According to the Gazette, the City was awarded $496,478, the operators were awarded $299,666, and the City paid its lawyers Venable LLC approximately $1,500,000 to defend this lawsuit and for other legal services.

$100 Property Tax Credit Fails: The Mayor and Council did not enact the property tax credit as in previous years. The tax credit was intended to make the taxpayers "whole" when the trash collection fees were moved from the General Fund to a separate enterprise fund. The Mayor and Council would have needed to cut approximately $1,000,000 from the City budget to provide the credit. In the past, the tax credit appeared as a line item deduction on the annual property tax bill.

Trash Fee Drops $20: The annual fee for trash collection at residences with City frash collection will drop from $392.40 to $372.00 per year. The fees show as a monthly charge on the quarterly bill from the City for water and sewer service and frash service.

Significant capital improvement projects that the Cit>' completed recently include a renovated and expanded fitness room at the Rockville Senior Center and a renovation of the historic Pump House in East Rockville. City staff is conducting preliminary meetings for the renovation of the Rockcrest park building near Crawford and Broadwood.

5' ' si, -

Small Raise for City Employees After several years when rank and file employees

received no raises, the Mayor and Council approved a 2% raise for FY 13. Top staff also received bonuses of approximately 10% as they had in past years.

Eroding Support for Metro? At this time, although thousands of apartments are being

planned and approved around the Twinbrook Mefro, there seems to be no plan to increase the capacity of the Twinbrook Metro Station or improve accessibility.

A representative of Metro met with the City's APFO committee last summer and expressed the opinion that significant funding increases would be necessary to increase capacity.

There is no dedicated funding mechanism for Mefro. Maryland, Virginia and DC deliberate annually to decide how much money wi l l be allocated to Mefro to subsidize its operations. Numerous news reports document Mefro's increasing infrastructure problems.

GOOD NEWS! City of Rockville Supplemental Homeowners Tax Credit Increases

The City wil l supplement the State's program so that households in Rockville with a gross income up to $91,000 per year with a household net worth of less than $200,000 can apply.

The net worth wi l l be calculated WITHOUT including the value of the home and WITHOUT including some types of retirement savings. Households could qualify for tax relief on the first $495,000 of their home's value.

The deadline for application is September 12,2012. The T C A will run a seminar in August to assist homeowners who want to apply for the credit. Please share this information with your neighbors. Watch the listser\ for more information.

Since most houses in Twinbrook are assessed at less than $495,000, we expect that many households in Twinbrook will be able to qualify for this tax credit.

**************************************** The TCA LISTSERV is free and open to everyone! If you have changed your email, if you think you should be getting emails, or you would like to receive our emails, please notify twinbrookpres(a>vahoo. com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Twinbrook to be Socked with Supertax? B R T Costs Might Be Charged Directly to Residents.

The County recently concluded a countywide study for implementing a "bus rapid transit" or BRT system to relieve traffic congestion anticipated from new development.

The BRT system could require a dedicated lane down the center of the road for fast buses. This could remove the median strip and possibly require losing car travel lanes, widening the road, or losing service lanes such as on Veirs Mi l l .

The system would be mainly concentrated in lower Montgomery County.

Funding: A previous BRT single direct bus which ran from the upper County on 1-270 to Bethesda was cancelled in 2005 by former county executive Doug Duncan on the grounds that its $600,000 annual subsidy was too expensive.

The study includes recommendations to fund the BRT system by assessing a supertax on all residents within one mile of a BRT line. The one mile radius is a commonly used measure by development planners of the distance residents are expected to walk to public transit.

The County could use a "special taxing district" model to impose the tax on limited areas in the County.

With one proposed line for Veirs Mil l and another for Rockville Pike, nearly every home in Twinbrook might be subject to a special tax of anywhere from S3 20 to S580 added to the annual property tax bill according to reports published in the Gazette and the Washington Post. There seems to be no provision to limit the number of years the tax , would apply.

The County has not taxed residents adjacent to the recently completed ICC for that project. Public transit systems, such as the Corridor Cities Transitway light rail line that was supposed to connect King Farm, Science City, and other developments west of 1-270 with the Shady Grove Mefro, were supposed to be negotiated and funded during the planning process with developers.

Special Taxing Districts: As part of the Town Center development, Rockville implemented a special taxing district for the downtown area where the taxes collected were supposed to be rolled back to a management company to pay for "housekeeping" such as maintaining the flower displays and the non-standard cobblestone sidewalks.

Similar special taxing districts were implemented when the County approved the White Flint Master Plan in 2010. The White Flint Master plan also requires more than $400,000,000 in County tax ftinding, or the equivalent of ten new elementary schools.

Both of these special taxing districts were created at the request of developers to facilitate extracting money from their tenants for special needs or to serve as a funding conduit for road and infrastructure costs.

The Montgomery County Civic Federation is considering resolutions urging that other more equitable funding mechanisms than this tax be considered, and that community residents should also be engaged in a dialogue before any routes are finalized. The fact that state tax law may need to be changed to allow this kind of special limited taxing

district is of concern to the Montgomery County Civic Federation because special limited taxing districts could then be applied to other situations, creating disparate taxing scenarios that could be discriminatory or regressive.

Is This Transparency?: Despite objections from the TCA and neighborhood residents, the deeply flawed Twinbrook Neighborhood Plan endorses placing a BRT line on Veirs Mi l l . At the time the Plan was being considered by the Neighborhood Advisory Group appointed by the Mayor and Council, no information was presented to the Advisory Group or to the neighborhood as to the projected costs.

Nearly five years ago, well BEFORE the County's BRT study and well BEFORE accurate information was available to citizens and residents, the Twinbrook Neighborhood Plan promoted the BRT.

In 2008, the TCA objected to the inclusion of the BRT recommendation in the Plan as it could possibly remove the service lanes on Veirs Mi l l , affecting nearby homes.

In addition, the TCA objected to language in the Twinbrook Neighborhood Plan promoting a "transit center" at the Veirs Mil l commercial district, especially since material presented at that time to the Advisory Group by City Staff did not define "fransit center" accurately.

"Transit centers" created in other parts of the County are large bus depots. The "transit center" currently under construction at the Silver Spring Metro has had multimillion dollar cost overruns. It is not clear i f the proposed BRT would have a stop in Twinbrook or require the creation of a transit center to service its buses in the median sfrip.

The County owns no land near the intersection of Veirs Mi l l and Twinbrook Parkway except the land that is occupied by the Twinbrook Library.

The County recently sent a brochure to neighborhood residents touting the benefits of the BRT. This brochure omits the information that Twinbrook residents could possibly be assessed $320 to $580 annually to support the proposed BRT lines that would pass through or near Twinbrook on Veirs Mi l l and on Rockville Pike.

Large areas of the County, including most of the Agricultural Reserve and Potomac, would not be subject to the proposed special taxing districts for the BRT.

What YOU Can Do: In general, the Twinbrook Citizens Association does not

support taxes or fees that are applied disparately. I f you are concerned about being assessed $320 to $580

annually for a BRT line in Twinbrook, and about the County and Cit\ using special taxing districts, voice your opinion by writing or emailing the Montgomery County Council, the Rockville City Council, the Gazette, the Post, and the Sentinel.

Help get out the word by discussing this issue with your neighbors and friends in Twinbrook. Encourage your neighbors to join the TCA and support efforts to provide complete information to our residents.

Keep watching the TCA listserv and mailings to learn -more about this and other issues facing our neighborhood.

Top Issues in 2011-2012 Rockville Pike Plan Still in Planning Commission

The City's "vision" for Roctcville Pike is still receiving "tweaks" and changes in advance of its presentation to the City Council by the Rockville Planning Commission. Along with several master plans approved by the County Council in 2010, the Rockville Pike Plan presupposes that extremely high levels of development will be approved.

By recently approving several projects near the Twinbrook Metro with high densities and by issuing waivers from the parking requirements and forestry requirements, the Rockville City Council appears to be poised to pre-approve megadevelopment along Rockville Pike.

The Rockville Pike Plan as proposed could cost $826,000,000 for infrastructure costs, the equivalent of 20 new elementary schools or 10 new high schools. The City paid $530,000 to a consulting company to write the Plan.

The infrastructure that could be required to support approximately 10,000 new apartments plus retail and office space could possibly include 14 lanes of traffic on Rockville Pike, plus a BRT system in the median strip, as well as changes to water supply lines, storm water management, and other support systems.

WSSC recently said that its largest water supply lines should be physically buffered and separated from buildings.

Mechanisms for providing land and space for public parks and public schools are not specified.

The public wil l have a chance to comment on the Rockville Pike Plan again when it comes before the Mayor and Council.

At that time, the Plan will include revisions from the Planning Commission.

At two public hearings before the Planning Commission in March 2011, most comments from the public, including the West End Citizens Association and the Twinbrook Citizens Association, were negative.

An analysis by the Rockville Economic Development, fNC. (which is mainly fiinded by the City) concluded that implementing the Rockville Pike Plan could deprive the community of the variety of stores and services that fill the Pike.

The TCA has adopted a set of guiding principles with regard to the Rockville Pike Plan:

*that the Rockville Pike Plan is not the citizens' vision, •that citizens would have to take on the financial risk, *that we would like to keep Rockville, including Rockville Pike, family friendly, affordable, and diverse. *that we want to keep Rockville's retail diverse, *that we do not want Rockville or any other government agency to use eminent domain (seize private property) for the benefit of private persons or corporations. *that we don't support mixed use at the proposed densities, *that while we want to maintain good standards for infrastructure with general improvements in transportation and pedestrian accessibility, we do not want to increase density to achieve these improvements. * that we oppose weakening the APFO or traffic limits.

Update on the APFO Last year, the City's committee on the Adequate Public

Facilities Ordinance completed its work and presented its findings to its authorizing body, the Rockville Planning Commission.

A significant issue was the accuracy of Montgomery County Public Schools' forecasts on school capacity. There seems to be a shifting formula as to how to estimate the number of students that will be living in apartments.

From data submitted to the committee by Montgomery CountN Public Schools, it appears that upwards of 800 students could be added to the school system i f all 10,000 apartments projected for Rockville Pike are built.

The committee members v\ho endorsed the majority report of the APFO committee included at least two persons with ties to the development industry. Minority reports expressing concerns with attempts to weaken the APFO were also submitted.

The Planning Commission continues to hold work sessions on the APFO. The APFO has also been discussed several times by the Mayor and Council in the last year, with, inconclusive results. >j

Twinbrook Elementary School Expansion Although nearly all schools in the Richard Montgomery

cluster are at or near capacity, Montgomery County did not approve fast tracking an expansion for the Twinbrook Elementary School.

The County plans to reactivate a school site in Hungerford that will split the neighborhoods that send students to Beall Elementary School in West End.

A lawsuit by West End residents in 2009 and 2010 stopped a development in West End by contending that overcrowding at Beall tripped the City's APFO limits on unsupported growth.

Some development projects near the Twinbrook Metro also appear to be blocked by the City's APFO as the 1595 apartments at JBG's Twinbrook Station project exhaust any capacity at Twinbrook Elementary School. JBG's development was approved by the City before its Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance took effect.

County Executive Ike Leggett stated that in recommending against several school expansion projects, his intent was to slow down obligating the County for bond projects it could not afford.

General Membership Meeting and Election Our annual election wil l be at our June General

Membership Meeting on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, 7 PM at the Twinbrook Community Recreation Center, 12920 Tw inbrook Parkway. Your household membership entitles ever>'one over the age of 18 in the same household to vote. Please be prepared to show ID at the door. Nominations need to be received by 5:00 PM June 14"'. They may be submitted to Secretary Dr. Steven Wilcox at spwilcoxfg'acm.org or mailed to the Twinbrook Citizens Association, P.O. Box 834, Rockville, Md 20848-0834. Nominations can also be made from the floor at the June 26 meeting.