In these tough economic times, it is our duty and our pleasure to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners. Everyday we work vigorously to locate the owners of the unclaimed property and to make sure they get what they deserve. This is just one of the ways we strive to serve the people of Maryland.

After a 30-minute ride through acres of rural land Tuesday morning, Maryland's comptroller said he was impressed with Prince George's management of parkland it bought in 2007 under a state program that is now facing a dramatic funding shortfall.Peter V.R. Franchot (D) said the tour of Charles Branch Stream Valley Park, south of Upper Marlboro, convinced him that the state was right to spend $4.1 million to buy the property from a developer in 2007. He added that he would tell Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) that the park is a good candidate for state investment in the future."Twenty years from now, people are going to look back and say, ‘I'm glad they did that,'" Franchot said after touring the land with a park ranger and Ronnie Gather, the director of the county's Department of Parks and Recreation..."We're going to have this preserved necklace of green all the way through Prince George's County," he told Franchot. "[But] we can't do this without the state's help and assistance."Wagnon told Franchot the park is important because it creates a buffer between the county's rural tier and its developing tier, where county regulations allow for heavier development, and because it contains acres of hardwood forest, active farmland and other resources.The Patuxent Greenway project is especially important because southern Prince George's is expected to see some of the county's heaviest development in the coming years, which could threaten rural land, Gather said.Franchot said he is interested in promoting the construction of bike trails in the park and suggested that he will be open to other ideas for improving the park."This is very forward-thinking stuff," he said of the Patuxent Greenway project. "The idea of connecting this [land] makes so much sense… Any project connected to this site or the greenway, I'll be very interested in."

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot discusses the state's economy, the budget gap, and slots.

If you use Google's electronic mail service Gmail and send a message containing the word "governor" along with "Maryland," "O'Malley," or "Ehrlich," you're sure to get an advertisement for Franchot.His campaign manager, Tim Daly, says the Gmail ads are part of an effort to improve his online visibility for re-election."It's part of the next wave of what you need to do to be successful in Maryland politics," Daly said.And he's not just targeting the incumbent and a potential GOP challenger. The Franchot ads appear if the message has "Lollar," "Pappas," "Franchot," "governor" and "comptroller." You can even misspell Ehrlich, and a Franchot ad still appears.

In these tough economic times, it is our duty and our pleasure to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners. Everyday we work vigorously to locate the owners of the unclaimed property and to make sure they get what they deserve. This is just one of the ways we strive to serve the people of Maryland.

States including Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia this year have stepped up law-enforcement efforts with the aim of recouping taxes lost to bootleg cigarette sales..."We do not want to have our tax laws ignored and lose tax revenue from legitimate sales of cigarettes," Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot said of the crackdown. He estimates that his state is losing "hundreds of thousands of dollars" annually...Others, such as Michigan, are looking at releasing some state inmates and closing prisons. Maryland is pushing several initiatives, including a partnership with the Internal Revenue Service that is helping the state collect back taxes from federal contractors.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot hiked down an overgrown path Friday to get to the site of new town parkland the state is helping to buy.
Franchot, a Democrat, said taxpayers expect state officials to keep an extra careful eye on spending because of the economy...
"I'm going to take word back to the governor and the treasurer that this is money well spent," Franchot said.
To get to the trail, Franchot rode on a trolley with town officials, including Mayor Wayne Creadick and council members Mark Hinkle, Matt Pridham and Mark Flynn.Franchot loved the ride, saying it added pizzazz to the visit.
"I want to thank the driver for getting us safely up and down the hill," he joked. "I thought I was going to have to get out and push at one point, but it's a very nice way to get around."
Franchot's remarks were tempered by the bleak fiscal outlook in Maryland and what he called taxpayer "anxiety" over stimulus spending.
"We in Annapolis really appreciate the fact that we got a good project to support, because there's a lot of junk that gets funding, despite our best efforts," Franchot said. "So when we find something like this that's really good, we want to come visit."Program Open Space funds are raised through a percentage of the state's real estate transfer tax.
Franchot called its design elegant because it builds up money during good economic times, when real estate is booming, and is limited when the economy is not doing so well.