David Brinkley, Maryland Secretary for the Department of Budget and Management, didn’t bring a lot of good financial news to Lexington Park, MD. He spoke to the business community last month at a briefing hosted by The Patuxent Partnership, in collaboration with the St. Mary’s Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance.

But he did bring news of numerous steps already taken toward Gov. Hogan’s commitment to bring Maryland’s budget into structural balance, and to make the state more business friendly. New investment advisers have been brought in, he responded to questions about recent hits the state’s portfolio has taken. And tax relief to retirement income remains on the table as a consideration, he responded to another question from the attendees.

Using only two slides, Mr. Brinkley emphasized the rising cost of the state’s retirement and pension exposure and the rising percentage of the state’s budget needed to service the state’s debt. These growing financial demands, he said, were the biggest challenges to building balanced budgets in the current economy.

It takes about 10 percent of the general revenues coming into the state to service the state’s bonds and support the pension and retirement fund. Until recently the state’s share of  property taxes covered Maryland’s debt payments. Although Maryland maintains an excellent bond rating, the cost of borrowing has increasingly required the state dip into its general revenue funds to meet the cost. The current fiscal year 2016 budget uses $300 million from operating funds to supplement the property tax income to pay the interest.

Mr. Brinkley said he’d rebuffed committee queries of whether this Republican governor might raise state property taxes as the last Republican governor had. “No,” he said, “Governor Hogan won’t support it. Fiscal restraint is the order of the day.”

However, he warned, it isn’t possible to simply put the brakes on spending, there exist formulas that demanded spending keep increasing and projects that couldn’t be stopped midway.

Honing in on specifics for the Southern Maryland economy, Secretary Brinkley said the University of Maryland classroom building, referred to as Building 3 at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, is not yet a “done deal.” But he emphasized that the governor was aware of its importance to “BRAC-proof” the Pax River region.

“Keep the pressure up,” he said, “especially with the University System.”