Tax Receipts

Showing a healthier economy, Maryland's sales and use tax receipts climbed by 7.3 percent in the first three months of 1997, compared with the corresponding period last year. The state's comptroller of the treasury took in $465.3 million for the period.Sales and use tax growth accelerated from a robust performance in the last three months of 1996, when the tax generated $570.7 million, up 6.6 percent. Both results far outpaced inflation, which has been running at about 3 percent annually.

Howard County income tax collections — the second-largest source of county revenue — continue to increase, which will likely help the county avoid a serious budget shortfall this coming year. "This number kind of confirmed that we are not going to have any shortfalls," said Raymond S. Wacks, Howard's budget director. "The economy is relatively strong in Howard County. We're on track. " The largest source of revenue, property tax collections, is expected to remain mostly flat until at least 2014, as home values continue to decline.

Anne Arundel County is a little poorer than it had hoped to be at this time last year.County budget officer Steven E. Welkos said state income tax revenue for the three-month period ending Dec. 31 was down 1 percent compared to the previous year.At the end of February, when the state distributes the fourth-quarter income tax receipts to local jurisdictions, the county will receive $31.9 million, compared to the $32.3 million received for the same period last year, he said.Welkos said the current $598.

Disappointing plan for city property tax The much-anticipated report from the mayor's property tax committee was released last week, and count this city resident and homeowner among the many people underwhelmed by it ("Bid to cut tax rate could still boost bill," Jan. 3). It was a waste of the committee's time to attempt to address such a complex and sensitive issue without also addressing city budget and spending issues. Even so, the committee's suggestions are disappointing. Baltimore residents face a property tax rate twice as high as any in the state.

Howard County's economy continues to hum along with strong growth in employment, home sales and tax receipts, but nervousness remains from the long recession of the early 1990s, according to the June issue of "Economic Indicators."The quarterly report is a mix of data, analysis and hunches from the Howard County Economic Forum -- a private group -- and county budget, development and finance officials.The June issue, released this week, is the most optimistic since the first issue of "Economic Indicators" in 1994.

Maryland would lose $7 million in state income tax revenues by 1995 as a result of President Clinton's proposal to freeze federal workers' salaries and cut their cost-of-living increases, according to state officials.William S. Ratchford II, director of the Department of Fiscal Services, said yesterday that state officials estimated the Clinton proposal would begin to be felt in the fiscal year that ends in June 1994."We think the cost impact over the next fiscal year will be $3 million," said Mr. Ratchford.

Howard County negotiators and police have reached a tentative two-year agreement that would give police a 2.5 percent merit increase on the anniversary of their employment.Police also would receive an additional 2.5 percent cost-of-living raise in January if county revenue rises sufficiently.The agreement would add no work days to the officers' current schedule, which the county had sought to do. Police had argued that the proposed 25 extra days would cut into their backup jobs and increase personal expenses for day care and transportation.

Maryland ended its budget year in June with a larger surplus than expected, creating a $310 million cushion that should soften the impact of looming cuts to agencies, state officials said yesterday. Higher-than-anticipated property and income tax revenues, coupled with unspent funds returned by agencies, helped provide the surplus in the $23.6 billion budget, officials said. "Though a surplus is welcome news, much of it is a one-time fix, and it falls short of what Maryland will need in future years to balance what we want with what we can afford," Comptroller William Donald Schaefer said in a statement reporting final figures for the 2004 budget year, which ended June 30. In particular, rising costs for education and health care are projected to outstrip tax revenues.

Unless legislative leaders change their minds, Maryland's road-building and modernization program could be seriously delayed. By turning down a gas-tax increase and higher motor vehicle fees, lawmakers have left officials with no choice but to shut down all new projects except for repair work to preserve the system. Suburban commuters will be most severely impacted.Nowhere will this no-new-projects edict hurt more than in gridlocked Montgomery County. Yet the county's own legislators never lifted a finger to help the administration in its quest to raise motor vehicle fees.

Md. sales, use tax receipts up 12%State sales and use tax revenues totaled $160.6 million in November, a 12 percent increase over the same month last year, Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein said yesterday.Sales of computers and related products and services led the increase, Mr. Goldstein said, bringing in more than $3.1 million in tax revenues last month, a 43 percent increase.Sporting goods and toy stores generated more than $2.7 million in tax receipts last month, up 6.3 percent, while other holiday gift-related categories such as card sales also showed improvement.

This week's decision by the General Assembly's Spending Affordability Committee to limit the growth of spending next year is a reasonable response to a softening economy. By historical standards, a 4.27 percent rate of increase is low, particularly at a time when government is being asked to allocate more for education and health care. But government spending should reflect the state's overall economic circumstance, and it's not difficult to see clouds on the horizon. Clearly, Gov. Martin O'Malley is going to have to make some further reductions in spending.

An unusual drop in sales tax receipts last month and weakness in other revenues could significantly complicate the already large budget problems state lawmakers face next year, Comptroller Peter Franchot said yesterday. Tax revenues declined by about $20 million last month compared with March 2006 - a drop of about 2 percent, largely because of a 3 percent drop in sales tax receipts. In a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley and leaders in the General Assembly, Franchot said there is reason to fear the tax numbers could become a trend.

With a surging economy and rapidly increasing tax coffers, General Assembly leaders decided last night that the state can spend nearly $1.5 billion more next year on public services without raising taxes or using reserve funds. If Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. submits a budget next month in line with a recommendation from the Spending Affordability Committee - and governors typically propose at least that much - state spending would increase at its fastest rate in 15 years. Since Ehrlich's election in 2002, budget shortfalls have provoked confrontations between the governor and the Democrat-led legislature over tax increases and legalized slot machines.

CAMBRIDGE - Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said yesterday he will seek to shave more than a penny from the state's property tax rate but will be careful in the coming legislative session about spending the current budget surplus in light of projected deficits in future years. Ehrlich told business leaders at the Maryland Chamber of Commerce's annual convention here that the surplus - which he estimated at "almost $2 billion" - was generated as much by the national economy as by his administration's management.

HERE'S A news flash: The federal government is still projected to rack up at least $4 trillion in additional debt from annual budget deficits over the next decade. This is the ugly long-term reality unchanged by the short-term good news last week that the Bush administration has lowered its projected budget deficit for this fiscal year from $427 billion to $333 billion. It also provides a less than optimistic backdrop to the White House's happy theory that its record tax cuts have produced the supply-side nirvana of greater growth and tax revenues.

THEY'RE NOT as eye-catching as the construction cranes around Baltimore's waterfront and downtown, or the scaffolding in front of rowhouses being rehabbed in neighborhoods like Reservoir Hill or Patterson Park. But revenue trends -- gleaned from the preliminary budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and other documents -- suggest just as strongly the city's improving fortunes. Take property tax receipts, the city's largest single source of funds, accounting for about 30 percent of the city's $1.9 billion operating budget.

THOUGH A $10 MILLION surplus is chump change in a $13 billion state budget, any surplus ranks as a substantial accomplishment for Maryland officials. The state's economy in the fiscal year ending June 30 provided a better cushion than expected, especially given the seismic shocks that had hit Maryland -- two federal shutdowns, continuing federal downsizing and a severe winter blizzard that brought everything to a standstill.Signs of a recovery began in the final three months of that fiscal year.

An Annapolis activist filed suit yesterday alleging that since 1967, the county has wrongfully kept $11.6 million in cigarette tax revenues that it should have been turning over to the city of Annapolis.Sylvanus B. Jones, a retired U.S. State Department employee, alleges in the suit that the Anne Arundel County Council overstepped its legal authority in the mid-1960s when it repealed state laws requiring the county to turn over a portion of its tobacco tax receipts to the city.County Attorney Judson P. Garrett said the dispute stems from whether the county had the authority to repeal state laws when it enacted the county charter in 1965.

Maryland received good budget news yesterday: the projected gap between revenues and expenses has shrunk to its lowest level for the state budget now being prepared by the governor. The estimated shortfall is currently at $311 million in a spending plan of about $24 billion, the General Assembly's chief budget analyst, Warren G. Deschenaux, said yesterday. That is down almost $70 million in less than three weeks. Deschenaux said the state was receiving more money than expected from businesses paying taxes they previously avoided by shifting assets to shell corporations in Delaware.

THE American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, just passed by Congress and likely to be signed by President Bush, ought to be called the "American Corporate Pork Act of 2004." Hardly any corporate special interests, it seems, walked away from this stunning boondoggle without a tax cut - after what's been described as an orgy of lobbying. The beneficiaries include ceiling-fan importers; foreign gamblers; railroads; certain shopping-center developers; NASCAR track owners; Native Alaskan whalers; producers of methanol and movies; cruise-ship operators; the makers of ships, aircraft, drugs, arrows and fishing-tackle boxes; and on and on. General Electric alone is expected to receive $9 billion in tax cuts from this bill.