Ellicott City, Maryland: Howard County Executive Ball Vetoes Nonprofit Grant and Farmland Solar Bills

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball has vetoed two bills the County Council passed in its final session, one adding oversight rules for large nonprofit capital grants and one adding county review for solar projects on farmland. Ball announced both vetoes on November 6, acting under Section 209 of the Howard County Charter, his office said.

The grant bill

Council Bill 58 was introduced in September 2026 as a broad measure covering grants of all types to nonprofit organizations. The council narrowed it before passage. As passed on October 30, it applied only to capital grants awarded to nonprofits to buy, build or redevelop real property. It added more than 20 requirements for groups receiving that money, including long term use agreements, matching funds and repayment provisions. Some rules applied only to grants larger than $1.5 million.

The bill grew out of public concern over a $25 million county grant to Columbia Community Concepts for a community center. Council member Deb Jung, the sponsor, said previously that such grants had lacked oversight. "Those particular types of grants in the past really lacked any guardrails," Jung said.

Ball said the bill went too far. He asked where the $1.5 million threshold came from and why it should apply to larger grants but not smaller ones. "It became clear that the true intention of the bill was to target a specific project that had received funding from the County, including approval by the County Council, in prior fiscal years," he wrote. Ball sided with the nonprofit groups that testified against the measure and called for a full study of the grant process first.

Ball noted the county regularly sends grants above $1.5 million to nonprofit partners, including $15 million for a new hospital observation unit and $2 million for a food bank campus.

The solar bill

Council Bill 59, sponsored by council member David Yungmann, would have required additional review of solar projects sited on farmland. Yungmann said it was meant to address confusion created by new state laws.

Ball said the bill conflicts with Maryland's 2025 Renewable Energy Certainty Act, which limits how much local governments can restrict certain solar projects and treats qualifying projects as a permitted use. He warned that a court could strike the bill down if it was enacted and challenged, putting more than a dozen pending solar projects worth more than $83 million at risk.

The money at stake runs past the project values. Federal tax law changes set a hard December 31, 2027 deadline for projects to qualify for the federal investment tax credit, and the county identified nearly $25 million in credits that delays could put at risk. Slowing projects across about 270 acres of farmland could also cost local farmers about $16 million in income over 25 years, Ball's office said.

Ball said the extra review was not needed. The county already holds authority to manage solar development on agricultural preservation parcels, he said. Maryland requires 14.5 percent of the state's electricity to come from in-state solar by 2030. Howard County has 181 megawatts of solar today, toward its 437 megawatt goal for 2030.

What happens next

The council passed both bills on October 30, in its final session before a new council takes office following the elections. The vetoes leave the incoming council to decide whether to try an override or let the measures expire.