Piggyback

Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens has scheduled a news conference for Monday to discuss a 14-month study of the deterioration of school facilities, problems that could cost as much as a billion dollars to remedy.The 117 county schools, of which 45 are more than 31 years old, are attended by about 74,000 students.The 83-page report recommends increasing the county's piggyback tax and a "reach-back" property tax to pay for renovations.The report is the product of the county's 36-member Citizens Committee on the Maintenance, Repair and Renovation of Public Schools.

For new leaders, a tough act to followWe would like to take this opportunity to congratulate James Robey and the new Howard County Council.We wish you well and the greatest success over the next four years. We would also like everyone to remember the tremendous achievements of Charles Ecker and the Republican-controlled council. We hope you can continue to build on that success.During the 1990s, we were the only major suburban jurisdiction in Maryland not to increase its piggyback tax. While Montgomery, Prince George's and Baltimore counties, among others, increased their piggyback tax, Howard was able to hold the line.

After a brief public hearing, a divided Board of County Commissioners increased yesterday the fees charged developers to build houses.The additional revenue from impact fees will help fund school and park projects in a county that has seen its population grow by about 50 percent since the 1970s.The fee increases ranged from almost 6 percent for a single-family home to 11 percent for a mobile home."It's been three years since we last looked at the impact fees. I believe, with the cost of things as they are today, we did the right thing," said Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown, who is leaving office when his term expires Dec. 7.Brown and Commissioner Richard T. Yates, who also is leaving office next month, voted to approve the higher fees.

Like a bad penny, the notion of a piggyback tax increase for Baltimore keeps turning up.After soundly defeating a proposal to raise the piggyback tax earlier this year, the City Council is three votes shy of achieving a majority that would approve some type of increase in the piggyback tax -- pushing it up from the current 50 percent of the state income tax bill."

THE ONLY GOOD THING to say about W. Benjamin Brown's scheme to roll back the piggyback income-tax rate is that it was mercifully tabled for further study by the Carroll County Commissioners.Commissioner Brown didn't do his homework; he didn't even ask others to do it for him. He didn't discuss his notion with colleagues or give school officials a hint in a meeting two days before announcing his populist political balloon. He didn't have any idea about legalities, such as a public hearing requirement, or when the reduction could take effect.

The County Commissioners' second order of business this morning will be to discuss -- read rescind -- a 16 percent increase in the local income tax, revenue that had been earmarked for school construction through 2001.Commissioners W. Benjamin Brown and Richard T. Yates said they would vote today to repeal the tax increase June 30. That move would restore the so-called piggyback tax rate to 50 percent of a person's state income tax liability.Yates, who opposed the increase when it was approved in May 1995, said he would second Brown's motion today to rescind the increase if Commissioner Donald I. Dell did not do it first.

FOURTH DISTRICT Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. appears to be testing the waters for Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke by proposing a 2 percent increase in Baltimore's piggyback income tax rate. The proposal is modest in comparison to the 10 percent increase the mayor failed to get last year. But while this dog may be smaller, it still won't hunt. It is a bad idea for the same reason the larger tax hike was rejected in 1996: Arguments that it is the best option aren't convincing.Mr. Mitchell proposes the $2.2 million that might be generated by raising the piggyback tax from 50 to 51 percent be used to hire more police officers and expand the state's attorney's office.

COMMITTING CARROLL to long-term local financing of school construction, the county commissioners have recognized that state funding will be more problematic and fickle in the future. But it is the only realistic step after years of Carroll's delay in construction, and increased competition from other counties for state money.Trimming the local piggyback income tax rate by 5 percent lets the commissioners claim they cut taxes. Using bonds to finance school building allows them to spread the cost over 20 years.

Carroll residents might not get a tax break this year after all.The County Commissioners tabled a move by Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown yesterday that would scale back the county's income tax rate to 50 percent of a filer's state income tax.Brown and Commissioner Donald I. Dell raised the so-called piggyback rate to 58 percent in May 1995, intending to use millions of dollars in added revenue to build eight new schools by 2001.Even with added revenues of more than $7.5 million a year, the county would still need help from the state to build the schools, Brown said, but that aid appears to be in jeopardy.

The County Commissioners approved a transfer of funds yesterday to guarantee that the renovation and expansion of Francis Scott Key High School will begin this year.By combining $2.1 million in state reimbursements for money used by the county to build Linton Springs Elementary School in Eldersburg with $2.5 million in state aid already approved for Key, work on the Union Bridge-area school will begin this fall.Overall, the state is putting $6.6 million into the $16.3 million Key renovation and expansion, but it plans to spread that aid over two or three years.

Counties, cities seek U.S. funds for broadband network Eight Central Maryland counties and two cities have jointly submitted an application for $100 million in federal stimulus money to create a regional broadband computer network. Ira Levy, Howard County's information technology director, has been leading an effort to jointly apply for the federal funds, which would be used to link Baltimore and Annapolis to governments in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, Frederick, Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

Let Mr. Flip piggyback on the suggestion made by his colleague Rick Maese in yesterday's editions about restoring some luster to the Triple Crown by adding a week between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. His argument is that we would see more Derby horses in Baltimore if they had another week of rest. Good idea. And how about another one? You want to run your horse in the Derby? Fine, but you have to pledge a large fee - Mr. Flip doesn't move in horse ownership circles, so he wouldn't know exactly how much - that you'll also run your horse in the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

Is any show-biz industry prone to the rip-off more than home-video movie tie-ins -- the grab-bag releases that fly straight to video in order to piggyback on a theatrical film's success? Even in the VHS era, fly-by-night distributors would flood bargain bins with cheap animated retellings of fairy tales, myths and legends whenever Disney released a blockbuster like The Little Mermaid or Pocahontas or re-released a classic like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. These days, the come-on and execution are often classier, the content just as flimsy.

Wall Street is sounding the alarm on one of the most popular ways to buy a house in many high-cost areas around the country - so-called "piggyback" programs that mesh simultaneously closed first-lien mortgages and second-lien credit lines or mortgages. As of July 1, the most influential ratings agency in the mortgage arena, Standard & Poor's Corp., has upped the ante for lenders who seek to fund piggyback deals through capital market financings. The move is likely to raise interest rates and fees for some homebuyers this summer, mortgage experts say, and could reduce the volume and availability of piggyback programs overall.

HOMEBUYERS WITH high credit scores but minimal down payment cash are about to get a new, potentially helpful mortgage option. It comes with a catchy name - the "SingleFile" low down-payment mortgage. But it also comes with some wrinkles you need to know about upfront. SingleFile loan down payments can go all the way to zero. Maximum mortgage amounts can extend well into the jumbo category: $650,000. However, you need to have a FICO credit score of 700 or higher - a tough hurdle for some buyers short on cash.

Harford County Executive James M. Harkins said yesterday that he plans to propose tax increases for county residents as part of an effort to address a projected budget deficit. Pointing to a "dire situation" in county finances, Harkins said he is preparing to ask the County Council to raise the rate of the county's piggyback tax on income and to approve increases in the county amusement tax and on fees for services such as building inspections. The proposals could add more than $15 million annually to a budget of about $245 million, while costing a typical taxpayer close to $200 a year.

Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens has scheduled a news conference for Monday to discuss a 14-month study of the deterioration of school facilities, problems that could cost as much as a billion dollars to remedy.The 117 county schools, of which 45 are more than 31 years old, are attended by about 74,000 students.The 83-page report recommends increasing the county's piggyback tax and a "reach-back" property tax to pay for renovations.The report is the product of the county's 36-member Citizens Committee on the Maintenance, Repair and Renovation of Public Schools.

For new leaders, a tough act to followWe would like to take this opportunity to congratulate James Robey and the new Howard County Council.We wish you well and the greatest success over the next four years. We would also like everyone to remember the tremendous achievements of Charles Ecker and the Republican-controlled council. We hope you can continue to build on that success.During the 1990s, we were the only major suburban jurisdiction in Maryland not to increase its piggyback tax. While Montgomery, Prince George's and Baltimore counties, among others, increased their piggyback tax, Howard was able to hold the line.

After a brief public hearing, a divided Board of County Commissioners increased yesterday the fees charged developers to build houses.The additional revenue from impact fees will help fund school and park projects in a county that has seen its population grow by about 50 percent since the 1970s.The fee increases ranged from almost 6 percent for a single-family home to 11 percent for a mobile home."It's been three years since we last looked at the impact fees. I believe, with the cost of things as they are today, we did the right thing," said Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown, who is leaving office when his term expires Dec. 7.Brown and Commissioner Richard T. Yates, who also is leaving office next month, voted to approve the higher fees.

Calling the council's bluff in the fight over the city budget, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said yesterday that he will lower the property tax rate by at least a nickel and accused the council of forcing him to lay off city workers and make deep cuts in government services.Schmoke's hard line is the latest maneuver in the tussle to balance the $2.4 billion city budget by chopping spending or raising the piggyback tax 10 percent. Schmoke wanted the tax, but City Council President Lawrence A. Bell III guided council approval of spending cuts at Monday's council meeting.