If you’d like to use a template to provide online budget testimony, you can download the following template from here.
To the Honorable Dr. Calvin Ball,
I am writing to urge you to support the University of Maryland Extension’s request to include as a new effort the Howard County Watershed Stewards Academy (HoCoWSA) into the County’s FY 2021 operating budget. HoCoWSA provides valuable services to the Howard County community. The academy trains and educates local citizens in relevant stormwater and watershed issues using trained Master Watershed Stewards. These stewards assess neighborhoods and residential sites for stormwater management problems and potential solutions, while also guiding citizens as they seek to initiate residential-scale best management practices that will reduce the volume and pollution that leaves these sites as stormwater runoff.
HoCoWSA is able to access private property within Howard County – property that is outside of the County’s authority/ownership and is thus inaccessible – and has collaborated with a number of county departments, nonprofits, schools, Boys/Girls Scout Troops, homeowner associations, and places of worship conducting education and outreach efforts and acting as an effective bridge between the County and its citizens. With the increase in rain events and their resulting impacts on individual properties, the demand for help from homeowners across the county continues to increase.
[Please consider inserting a few sentences about your interactions with HoCoWSA here].
Again, I urge you to support the University of Maryland Extension’s request to include as a new effort the Howard County Watershed Stewards Academy (HoCoWSA) into the County’s FY 2021 operating budget.
Thank you for your attention and support.