Tax Burden

As they argued over a proposed $50 annual trash fee increase yesterday, Howard County Council members were given something else to consider -- the total tax burden of county residents compared with those in eight surrounding counties. County budget director Raymond S. Wacks argued that based on his comparison of the nine central Maryland counties, Howard residents pay less in combined taxes and fees than people in six other jurisdictions. Only Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties were lower.

In 1988, George H. W. Bush uttered his iconic sound bite, "Read my lips: no new taxes." He ate those words two years later, then endured the backlash in 1992. That should have been a clue that "no new taxes" was too simplistic to fit the actual state of our fiscal needs. Twenty years later, the sound bite is harder on the ear. The first crop of baby boomers (those born in 1946) are about to qualify for early Social Security benefits starting Jan. 1. Projected Social Security and Medicare shortfalls, soaring spending, huge deficits and recession worries all suggest revenues will contract and budgets will tighten to the point where further tax cuts would make matters worse.

Instead of fair taxes, we get slot machines Members of the General Assembly should be ashamed of themselves for what seems like trying to pull a fast one on Maryland's citizens in the special session. Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed a modest progressive tax reform, but it was all but erased by the Senate and only partially restored by the House ("O'Malley promise on taxes erased," Nov. 13). Apparently, we will remain the wealthiest state in the union with one of the flattest tax structures in the U.S. Instead, the General Assembly is choosing to "put to the people" the option of using slots to solve our budget crisis.

Gov. Martin O'Malley aimed his pitch for raising some taxes at the same "working families" he wooed in last year's campaign. He promised that he had found a way to resolve Maryland's projected $1.7 billion budget shortfall that would place the burden on the wealthy and big corporations. The vast majority of Marylanders, he promised, would actually come out ahead. But after a series of amendments the state Senate adopted last week, that appears to be in doubt. The House of Delegates voted to restore some of O'Malley's promised progressivity, but even plan supporters acknowledge that working families are likely to end up paying the same amount or more in taxes.

Weak political leaders, whose allies don't get elected, will have difficulty passing major legislation. It was somewhat coincidental, but just as he unveiled a new tax structure for the state, Gov. Martin O'Malley's political strength - his machine - was on display in the recent primary election in Baltimore. He enthusiastically endorsed Mayor Sheila Dixon, who won by a big number over Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. Polls suggested she was headed for an easy win, but the O'Malley boost probably made the margin wider.

The Sun's article "State leaders look at Md. income taxes" (July 19) was a good start at engaging the attention of taxpayers in the discussion about how to address the state's $1.5 billion structural deficit. And, yes, Maryland's income tax could be made more progressive. But the role of business in carrying the tax burden also needs to be brought into the discussion. According to a February report from the Council on State Taxation comparing the tax burdens of business among the states for fiscal 2006, Maryland ranks No. 48 (tied with Oregon)

The Harford County Council will propose Tuesday a slight tax decrease that is designed to ease the burden on residents facing spiraling home assessments. Relief wouldn't come until next year, and it's small consolation to residents who have seen tax assessments double on their homes, but officials insist that the measure is a step in the right direction. The proposal lowers the 10 percent cap on the Homestead Tax Credit by 1 percentage point starting July 2008, the beginning of the next fiscal year.

Carroll County commissioners have eased the tax burden for senior citizens with a property tax credit they unanimously enacted yesterday. Coping with soaring tax assessments while living on fixed incomes, seniors could save as much as $1,000 on their 2007 tax bill, Carroll County officials said. Qualified homeowners, ages 65 and older with an annual income of no more than $50,000, can immediately apply for the credit that will supplement tax relief the state offers seniors on the first $300,000 of a home's assessed value.

In search of a semirural lifestyle and a good school for their growing family, Mark Hasegawa and his wife recently settled on Howard County to build a new house, unwittingly becoming part of a fierce dispute over who should pay the costs of sprawl that has engulfed the rapidly developing counties ringing Baltimore. The price tag on their $650,000 custom home on 2.5 acres in Highland included a $4,762 excise tax Howard County imposed on new homes last July 1 to help pay for new schools.

A blow for social justice is the accomplishment I hope to see by the end of the General Assembly session. The legislature is considering a bill to impose a major new tax on the poor, the working middle class and senior citizens by way of slot machines. It would be hard to imagine a more unjust tax measure. No one expects the rich and affluent to play slots. But working men and working women would drop by the neighborhood slots parlor Friday night and all day Saturday and Sunday. Some would pump their entire paychecks into the machines while their children wait outside in the minivan.