Busch tax plan puts big burden on state's poor
The Democrats' latest effort to separate Marylanders from their earnings is directed at the state's low-income and poor families ("Busch pushes tax alternative on slots, budget," March 23).
House Speaker Michael E. Busch claims that his proposed 20 percent increase in the state sales tax would be mostly offset by a decrease in property taxes. But Mr. Busch's math works only for Marylanders who own expensive homes (worth $300,000 or more). And in truth, Mr. Busch's plan would place a horribly regressive tax on the shoulders of low-income and poor Marylanders.
Citizens for Tax Justice, a nonpartisan research organization, estimates that low-income families in Maryland typically lose 5.1 percent of their income to sales and excise taxes, while the wealthiest families lose just 0.6 percent.
As for the claims that the sales tax increase would be offset by cuts in the property tax, census data for 2000 show that one-third of Marylanders do not own a home and that 90 percent of homes in Maryland are worth less than $300,000.
As a result, the property tax reductions would mostly benefit upper-middle-class and wealthy Marylanders.
Mr. Busch and the Democrats are trying to balance Maryland's budget on the backs of the poor.
At least Marylanders could choose whether or not to put money into a slot machine.
Todd Eberly
Columbia
The writer is a graduate student in public policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
No one will miss penny on sales tax
Reading the article "Busch pushes tax alternative on slots, budget" (March 23), I saw an obviously well-thought-out plan that would not cause a catastrophic decline in income for the average family in this state.
Tax increases in one area would be offset by decreases in other taxes. And, still, enough revenue would be raised to support our schoolchildren.
The sales tax increase would hardly be noticeable in our daily lives. No one would miss that extra penny for a newspaper, extra nickel for an Orioles hat pin, or extra dime for an Ocean City T-shirt. But even if we did, the benefits to our children would make the expense worthwhile.
The governor has threatened the supporters of the tax bill with reprisals in the next election. Maybe he should ponder the idea that the next election may reward those public servants who support good, common-sense solutions to tough economic problems rather than those who are tied to special interest groups that seek to line their pockets at the expense of Maryland's citizens.
