In 2007, Gov. Martin O'Malley led the effort to expand our state's Medicaid program. But instead of finding the money to fully fund the cost of Medicaid in this year's state budget, the governor counted on the federal government increasing its funding for the program. Congress had not appropriated the money yet, but the governor and legislators assumed it would and pronounced the state's budget "balanced."

It is now looking likely that Congress will not give states a Medicaid bailout. If Maryland doesn't get this money, the state would resort to another budget trick: taking money away from local governments. O'Malley would once again tap the local income tax reserve fund to help cover the budget shortfall. This is the fund into which our local income taxes are paid and then distributed to county governments.

One of the reasons Wicomico County is having trouble balancing its budget this year is because the state is holding back money properly belonging to counties. For instance, the gas tax collected in Wicomico County is supposed to be given to our local governments to spend on roads. In this fiscal year the state only gave us 10 percent of our allocation and used the rest to cover its high spending.

The governor's plan to borrow from the local income tax reserve fund may lead to even more of our money being taken away. O'Malley said this money will be paid back. But what if state revenue is stagnant or continues to shrink next year? Repayment of this money is not guaranteed, and that will hurt every county in the state.

This local income tax revenue rightly belongs to county governments; it is not state money. But if the state decides to use it for other purposes, as it has with our gas tax money, then county governments are left with the choice we face in Wicomico County -- raise taxes or cut services. The failure to control spending in Annapolis has a direct affect on the policy options facing our county officials.

O'Malley has not tackled Maryland's spending problems, but has instead used budget tricks to avoid making tough choices. The federal money he counted on may not appear, though, and that means he'll take the money from county governments. That may make the state budget appear balanced, but it just shifts the burden to taxpayers at the county level.

Marc Kilmer of Salisbury is a senior fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a public policy think tank based in Rockville, Md.