Harford County Executive David Craig admits he is asking for a lot — $370,176,691, to be exact, for his 2008 capital budget — but he also said that he needs the money to bring the county’s services up to spec.

With the money, Craig says he hopes to fund the expansion of a solid waste incinerator in Edgewood, an expansion at the Abingdon water treatment plant and nine major school projects. But he has to get by the County Council first.

“The reason these things need to be funded now is because they take five years to come on line,” Craig, a Republican, said of his priorities.

According to Craig's director of administration, Lorraine Costello, the fiscal 2008 capital budget for the county increased this year by $182 million, with the majority of that figure — $172 million — going to fund school projects.

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Costello said the capital projects will be funded through bonds.

“We have to do bonds because bonds are the cheapest way to go,” Costello said, adding that bonding, essentially taking out a loan, was also the most “equitable way to go” because these projects would serve county residents for years to come.

But Harford County Council President Billy Boniface, R, said Tuesday he sees the school projects as being the main priority in the capital budget, while the incinerator and water-treatment plant projects can wait.

“We have no guarantees for future school construction funding from the state,” he said, suggesting that some of the funds available in the capital budget be used for getting school projects done now.

“It doesn’t work like that. These are enterprise funds. They can't be moved to help the schools,” he said.

Craig said that new water users would pay for the expansion of the water treatment plant, while Costello said that Aberdeen Proving Ground pays for steam produced by the Edgewood incinerator.

Boniface said he felt expanding the incinerator and water treatment plant were “great ideas,” but given the “economic picture for the future, we may have to put those further down on the priority list.”

mplum@baltimoreexaminer.com