Our house is in a homeowners association area known as the Chesapeake Ranch Estates (CRE). The census designated place of Lusby, MD is inland and adjacent to our neighborhood. We, and all but two other places in Calvert County, are beholden to the whims of the Board of County Commissioners for managing our tax dollars.
A petition has been submitted to the county government to allow our neighborhood and the adjoining commercial district to incorporate into a municipality, which would allow us to decide where some of our tax dollars are spent and to apply for grants and loans from state and federal agencies. If approved, our rural village will be known as Calvert Shores and, though late in coming, the change is a step in the right direction. It would allow stronger enforcement of local rules, which have proven difficult for the HOA to maintain due to the enormous size of CRE. It might also allow our village to begin the transition to a more resilient community, able to adapt to financial turmoil and natural disasters. I think the name Calvert Shores is ingenious since FEMA may be more inclined to grant monetary relief from hurricane damage to a "shoreline" community.
The sticking point for approval of the petition appears to be whether the business owners outside of CRE would prefer to be part of the municipality. If they will have to pay additional taxes as a result, my guess is that they will lobby with the county commissioners to reject it. From what I've observed about our recent coteries of commissioners (one of whom owns a business in the area affected) businesses receive treatment as persons, while individuals receive treatment as subjects.
