Tax Reduction

Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who talked confidently about an income tax cut when he began his term, is now sounding much less certain that the state can afford one.During a recent visit with bond-rating agencies in New York, the governor said he did not "anticipate an income tax reduction at either the 1997 or 1998 [legislative] session," according to top legislative analyst William S. Ratchford II, who attended the meetings."This was due to slow growth in revenues and his perception that this issue had lost momentum," Ratchford wrote in a May 6 memo to legislative leaders.

Baltimore County homebuyers, already in line for several hundred dollars in savings on closing costs, will get even more of a tax break, County Council members said yesterday.As part of a continuing effort to strengthen the local economy, the council has decided to cut the county's transfer tax rate, which is the highest in Maryland. The council action will save homebuyers $128 in closing costs on a $150,000 house; combined with another recent tax break, it will mean a $480 savings at settlement.

Atholton Swim Club lives up to its part as a nonprofit organization. Using our volunteers we exist to serve our members and the public in many ways for close to 50 years. The relief we would feel from the proposed tax reduction would allow us to continue to offer our many programs to the community. For a non-Columbia Association resident, you will find that our annual dues and fees are less expensive than those of the surrounding CA pools. Our swim club is an affordable alternative for the hard-working middle-class families who find the CA fees out of reach.

WASHINGTON -- No one can accuse the politicians here of failing to be responsive to their constituents. Whether they are responding in a way that makes any sense, however, is another question.The reaction to the anger shown by the electorate Nov. 8 has been -- not to put too fine a point on it -- bribery. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are racing with the president to come up with the most politically attractive tax relief for the middle class.It is quite possible, of course, that there is a sound case for tax reduction right now, although few economists seem to think so. And there clearly is a case for cutting back on federal spending, even perhaps to the point of eliminating or consolidating some government agencies.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton is taking a significant political risk with his decision to offer a budget alternative to Republican proposals already on the fast track.On the one hand, the president is recognizing the political reality that he cannot afford to be a passive bystander in the process of reducing the federal deficit. And the White House is well aware of opinion polls that show voters fear the Republicans might be moving too far too fast. So it makes some sense at one level to offer a less radical plan.

WASHINGTON -- Republican leaders are looking at their party's sweep in the Virginia off-year elections as a signal that the road to continued electoral success in 1998 and 2000 must be paved with bricks of tax reduction.There is general agreement that the one factor that brought an easy victory to Gov.-elect Jim Gilmore over Democrat Don Beyer, and the elections of the GOP candidates for lieutenant governor and state attorney general as well, was Mr. Gilmore's simple-to-understand call to end Virginia's onerous personal-property tax.'No Car Tax!

A bickering group of Baltimore County Council members formally adopted a new $1.26 billion budget on a 6-1 vote, and approved new salaries for the next council and executive today in Towson.The budget, as revealed last week, is virtually unchanged from County Executive Roger B. Hayden's proposal April 14, except for a one-cent cut in the property tax rate, from $2.865 to $2.855 per $100 of assessed value.The rate cut means the average county homeowner's tax bill will rise only $27, instead of $31.Slowly rising state assessments are the reason that tax bills will be higher, even though the tax rate will decrease.

OPENING DAY at the Maryland General Assembly is reserved for pomp and ceremony, but also for some words of guidance from legislative leaders. Yesterday, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor sounded downright gubernatorial. In fact, Mr. Taylor -- who seems to be gearing up for a run for the mansion -- broached some subjects that present and past governors have long avoided.Maryland, says Mr. Taylor, faces critical, interlocking fiscal problems. The state doesn't have enough revenue to take care of its unmet needs.

WHEN YOU ARE at least $132 million in the hole, it's time to stop talk of cutting taxes and figure out how to balance the books. That's the situation confronting Gov. Parris N. Glendening and state lawmakers after receiving new and depressing revenue estimates. With the continuing softness in Maryland's economy, a prudent, cautious fiscal approach is imperative.Three months ago, the governor wisely held off on a tax-cut decision until mid-March, awaiting updated revenue numbers. But since December, bad new had been piled on top of bad news: The federal shutdowns that forced Maryland workers and contractors to dip into savings to survive; the January blizzard and other heavy snow storms that delivered a mighty wallop to the Maryland economy; the holddown in federal spending in Maryland while the federal budget deadlock persists, and bleak sales tax numbers as nervous consumers delayed new purchases.

JUST THREE DAYS before Valentine's Day, Republican leaders staged a love-in for President Clinton on Capitol Hill yesterday. They ignored nasty areas of disagreement, such as campaign reform and the harsh treatment of legal immigrants, to focus on five goals for which there supposedly is general accord: welfare-to-work proposals, federal aid to education, juvenile justice, help for the District of Columbia and tax reduction -- all in the context of a...