Tax Relief

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., County Council Chair Joseph Bartenfelder and Councilman John Olszewski Sr. today proposed a new property tax relief program to aid victims of Tropical Storm Isabel, set for council approval at a Monday meeting, officials said. The bill, introduced by Bartenfelder at the request of the Smith administration and co-sponsored by Olszewski, was touted as representing the latest step in ongoing efforts to assist homeowners devastated by the storm, which damaged many area homes in September 2003.

WASHINGTON - The House failed yesterday to override President Clinton's veto of a bill that would have cut taxes for nearly all married couples, blocking a major Republican priority and leaving the issue for voters to decide in the November elections. The 270-158 tally in favor of overriding Clinton's veto drew the support of 49 Democrats. But it fell 16 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to enact the bill over the president's objections. The measure had been promoted as a way to ease the tax burden on the many couples who are said to pay a "marriage penalty" because their combined tax bill is higher than it would be if they were single.

WITH the congressional season rapidly drawing to a close, thousands of American homeowners are in line to benefit financially from two little-noticed tax developments on Capitol Hill.One involves the surprise rebirth of a reform designed to provide tax relief for certain homeowners who sell their property at a loss. The other involves the retention in the tax code of one of the most generous provisions for owners of primary residences and vacation property -- a rare federal sanction to pocket ordinary income with zero taxation.

The Anne Arundel County Council approved a $1.37 billion budget yesterday that offers teachers a much-anticipated 6 percent raise and contains funds to hire scores of new educators while laying the groundwork to accommodate expansion at Fort Meade. The Republican-controlled council largely left the final spending package of County Executive Janet S. Owens untouched, saying it reflected the right priorities in terms of education, tax relief and improving roads and schools. With soaring revenue from the state and the real estate market creating a record county surplus, Owens, a two-term Democrat running for state comptroller, poured more than $202 million into capital projects to build schools, fire stations and roads.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is suggesting that Congress act rapidly on short-term tax relief early next year and then develop a second package of measures to deal with long-term economic problems.The two-step approach was outlined yesterday by Budget Director Richard G. Darman during testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on tax bills to revive the sluggish recovery and lower taxes for middle-income Americans.After meeting with President Bush, Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan.

IT'S ONE of those "win-win" situations. The General Assembly can help both apparel merchants and customers by passing a bill to create a temporary sales-tax holiday on clothing purchases. This would be a highly visible -- and popular -- form of tax relief . The impact would be felt by every Marylander who wants to save money while shopping. The only down side is that the plan would cost the state between $4 million and $6 million. But even Comptroller William Donald Schaefer supports the tax holiday, despite the loss of state revenue.

The governor and legislative leaders agreed yesterday on an election year tax-relief package that would speed up the income tax cut passed last year, reduce property taxes for low-income homeowners and extend tax rebates to the working poor.Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. endorsed the proposals after the leaders of the legislature's two tax-writing committees finished work on a package that has been taking shape for several days.The legislation -- which would return about $190 million to taxpayers this year -- is expected to easily win approval before the 90-day General Assembly session ends Monday night.

Presidents, lately, like to have exemplary Americans in the gallery when they deliver the annual State of the Union address to Congress and the American people. If Karl Rove & Co. are looking for such people when President Bush delivers the State of the Union this month, they ought to stay away from the family of four earning $39,000 that President Bush mentioned when he unveiled his $670 billion stimulate-the-economy proposal last week. "A family of four, with two earners and $39,000 in income, will receive more than $1,100 in tax relief.

Howard County's legislators killed two local tax relief bills along with another measure intended to preserve state funding for agricultural preservation but agreed to pursue a resolution urging state-county cooperation in preserving Doughoregan Manor. The delegation has yet to agree on specific language for the resolution, or whether to offer it to the full General Assembly, but the idea is to encourage what is under way - an effort by state and county officials to use public funds to help the descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrolton preserve an 892-acre portion of the 300-year-old estate after a historic easement expires next year.

Moving quickly to reap the political benefits of the 1998 General Assembly session, Gov. Parris N. Glendening signed into law a tax-relief package yesterday that will return an estimated $200 million a year to Maryland taxpayers.Flanked by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr., Glendening also celebrated the passage of virtually all of his initiatives in what he called an "extraordinarily productive session for the entire state."Glendening reeled off a list of accomplishments during the session that ended Monday night, including the election-year tax reductions, college scholarships and expanded health insurance coverage for about 60,000 children and pregnant women from low-income families.