The Harford County Council’s budget session Tuesday became a call for more assistance from Annapolis amid worries that the county’s needs were outstripping the council’s ability to cut spending and raise revenues.

“I came into this all gung ho about cutting the budget,” Council President Billy Boniface said. “But the obligations we have to meet are so overwhelming, and with BRAC on the horizon it’s just mind-boggling.”

The federal Base Realignment and Closure process is expected to bring thousands of new jobs and residents to the county, which is already faced with overcrowded schools; underpaid emergency responders; and growing needs for water, sewer and waste-disposal services, Boniface said.

The council reviewed nearly 100 changes to the proposed budget for fiscal 2008, including increasing the county’s share of school construction funding by $29.2 million for renovations, replacements and additions at overcrowded or dilapidated schools.

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Much of that money will be in the form of “forward-funding,” where the county pays the state’s share to keep a project moving when state funding comes up short, in the hopes that the state government will later reimburse the county. Some on the council cautioned that payback from the state is not guaranteed.

“We should assume that we’re going to accept the full burden of these projects,” said Councilman Richard Slutzky of Aberdeen, pointing to warnings of a looming state deficit that could threaten future funding.

Combined with a $59 million cut that will delay the expansion of the county’s waste-to-energy incinerator, the council’s changes took the capital budget from $230.5 million to $173.1 million, Director of Administration Lorraine Costello said. The general fund grew from $448 million to $457.2 million at the request of the county executive’s office, she said.

Councilmembers Dion Guthrie and Mary Ann Lisanti both insisted that the county’s delegates needed to do more to compete for state school funding and give the county the authority to raise more money, such as through higher transfer taxes on home sales.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com