Charles County, Maryland Resilience Authority
In November 2020, Charles County, Maryland, created the Charles County Resilience Authority to support resilience infrastructure projects and provide financial support through private and public investment. The Resilience Authority has the power to raise funds through issuing bonds, which may be applied to resilience infrastructure projects. Maryland Senate Bill 457 granted Charles County the ability to create a resilience authority and also authorized other resilience authorities by local governments.
When issuing a bond, the Resilience Authority must adopt a resolution that describes the resilience infrastructure that the bond is intended to support, describe the public purpose of the transaction, the maximum principal amount of the bond to be used, and impose terms or conditions on the sale of the bonds.
In addition to issuing bonds, the Charles County Resilience Authority has the power to acquire property for resilience infrastructure. They may also establish or alter resilience infrastructure already owned by Charles County.
Maryland Senate Bill 457 also allows funding for a “nonexclusive range of projects.” These projects include developing flood barriers, green spaces, and in the case of Charles County, addressing a rising problem of sinkholes in the community.
Second, the law allows for diverse funding and financing options, such as granting the Resilience Authorities to issue and sell bonds. In addition, the Authorities may charge and collect fees for their services.
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