Pat Dornan came out of a five-year retirement this year as head of the Howard County Taxpayers Association, deciding that residents need the group's help in fighting an income tax increase.
The County Council last month approved a measure raising the local income tax from 2.45 percent to 3.20 percent, and Dornan is trying to have the legislation repealed.
"This time around, it was just enough to put me over the edge," said Dornan, of Glenwood. He is leading a group of 67 volunteers who are gathering signatures on a petition to put the income tax increase on the ballot as a countywide referendum issue.
He is outraged, Dornan said, by what he describes as the council silencing "the voices of the voters" by passing the income tax rate rise May 23 in a split vote to help cover a 9.35 percent increase in government spending.
"The tax increase is uncalled for," Dornan said. "I believe they ignored the will of the people."
But there is no guarantee the issue will make it on the ballot for November 2004 even if Dornan - who is collecting signatures at Kiwanis-Wallas Park in Ellicott City - and his volunteers gather the necessary 5,000 signatures by the July 22 deadline.
The county Office of Law believes that voters cannot repeal the tax increase because it is an appropriation, raising revenue for the county. But Jim Oglethorpe, vice president of the taxpayers association, argues that a law setting a tax rate does not constitute an appropriation.
Association volunteers are not letting that legal question deter them. The group's petition efforts began last week, with volunteers dispersed throughout the county, hitting strip malls, post offices and residential streets.
The drive hit a snag Wednesday, when Dornan realized the wording of the tax law on the petition did not meet state and county requirements. Dornan drafted a new petition, and the volunteers renewed their efforts Friday.
Dornan traveled around the baseball fields at Kiwanis-Wallas Park last night, asking spectators at youth games if they were interested in signing his petition "so everybody gets to vote yes or no" on the tax increase.
Coach Bill Bonnington took a break from tossing a baseball with one of his young players to sign the petition, calling the tax increase "a little extreme."
"I favor fiscal constraint over added revenue," said Bonnington, of Ellicott City.
Dornan said he and the volunteers have collected more than 500 signatures. He also said that the rate of decline on signing the petition is 7 percent.
"The reaction I'm getting is fantastic," Dornan said. "People are thanking me for making this effort."
Sue Lisi of Ellicott City was happy to sign last night as she watched a game at the park. "To me, it just makes sense that everybody votes [on] it," she said.
Louis M. Pope, chief of the county Republican Party, said the tax referendum has bipartisan support and predicted the issue has an "excellent chance" of getting on the ballot.
"I believe they should not have a problem at all in garnering the minimum 5,000 signatures," he said. "In fact, they'll probably get more than that."
Once the petition is submitted to the county Board of Election, the elections director will determine if the petition has met the necessary guidelines, including the appropriate deadline (60 days within the date of the law's enactment) and the required number of signatures (5 percent of registered voters), said Mary C. Reese, attorney for the county elections board.
The county attorney also will offer an opinion on whether the petition is valid.
If the petition is deemed legal, the issue would be on the ballot during the next congressional election. If the county attorney advises that the petition is not a legal document and the elections board agrees, the petitioner can appeal to the county Circuit Court, Reese said.
Oglethorpe said the taxpayers association would pursue legal options if the income tax increase is not placed on the ballot for legal reasons.
"There needs to be a court case then," Oglethorpe said. "That's part of the plan."
Dornan, 42, left a long career in computers and telecommunications last year and is now working to develop two Maggie Moos ice cream stores. In 1997, he left the taxpayers association - which he founded in 1991 - so he could spend more time coaching youth baseball and being a father, he said.
The group slowed down after Dornan left, and he said he could not let the county pursue a significant tax increase without getting involved.
"It just seems to me that if the budget situation is so bad that they have to raise taxes, how come expenses are growing by 9.3 percent?" he said. "It's just ... special interest politics at its finest."
