Tax Structure

A few disciplined and determined Anne Arundel County Council members may have saved John R. Leopold from himself. Through deft budget cuts and the shelving of a few favored projects, the council found $43 million in the county executive's spending plan to meet the school system's needs and spare hoteliers an increase in the room tax. Council members may have satisfied worried education leaders and a vocal business lobby, but they've basically passed the...

Targeting tea party groups is an ironic act on the part of the Internal Revenue Service ("Taxing the tea party," May 14). Examples of bullying tactics, corruption and neglect keeps cropping up all over the map of America. In the midst of this, why pour gasoline on emotions by labeling tea party members views as, "extremist, anti-civil rights, anti-immigration?" Snarky remarks in an editorial, however tempting, are not constructive. We need hard core unemotional and nonpartisan journalism now more than ever.

WE HOLD these truths to be self-evident:* Truth No. 1: Ronald Reagan pledged to lower taxes, and Congress went along. The nation's tax structure lost what little progressivity it once had, and the nation's debt exploded.Our tax structure must be more progressive. The rich should have to pay more than they do.* Truth No. 2: Even if tax rates for the rich were 100 percent, the middle class will get hit -- hard. That's where the money is. Without pain for the middle class, the budget-balancing act is phony.

Dan Rodricks turned his editorial fire on me for standing up against income tax increases passed by the state Senate that would hit nearly all Marylanders in this sluggish economy ("Maybe Bobby Zirkin should be a Republican," March 20). Mr. Rodricks seems to believe that any Democrat who dares to speak against taxes or challenges party orthodoxy in any way is worthy of his scorn. Mr. Rodricks also apparently sees no problem with the type of divisive rhetoric that pits citizen versus citizen.

Just as we suspected, critics rushed to pass (negative) judgment on the Linowes commission's tax-reform suggestions even before they had laid eyes on the yet-to-be approved final report. They had their minds made up; they felt no need to study the document before rejecting the panel's recommendations.Such myopic thinking poses a danger to Maryland's future development. Ignoring the stark realities that the Linowes commission identified could lead to a declining revenue base, increasing demands for social services and a frightening gap between the state's haves and its have-nots.

Maryland's Board of Revenue Estimates said yesterday that tax collections will be about $50 million less than expected in the current fiscal year and the next, a further sign that softening in the economy will exacerbate the state's budget problems in the next few years. Some fiscal leaders in Annapolis had worried that the revenue drop-off would be much worse, forcing Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly to make immediate, deep reductions to the current budget and the one now being debated in the legislature.

The call for revamping Maryland's tax structure couldn't have been more universal at last night's Baltimore school board meeting if Gov. William Donald Schaefer had orchestrated it himself.Board members complained of $8.8 million in proposed cuts to the city's already overburdened education budget -- which were geared to minimize the effect on the classroom -- and urged parents and teachers gathered for the meeting at Coldstream Park Elementary School to lobby their legislators for a change in the state tax structure.

Downtown business leaders were urged today to support proposals to revamp Maryland's tax laws by Robert Linowes, chairman of the Maryland Commission on State Taxes and Tax Structure.Linowes heads the commission, which last month issued a report that called for major increases in state taxes, a fairer tax structure and increased revenues for education and transportation.Linowes spoke this morning at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel before the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, a non-profit corporation created to promote the downtown area.

Four days after a Maryland General Assembly session that produced a first-ever income-tax cut, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. yesterday renewed his call for a thorough examination of the state's entire tax structure.Addressing a conference in Baltimore, the Cumberland Democrat said the state's income-tax burden is the fourth-highest nationwide. He said the corporate tax burden is the fifth-lowest and the sales-tax burden is the sixth-lowest."That suggests to me it needs some rebalancing," said Taylor, a potential rival of Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

The current laments in Maryland government about the state's revenue shortfall and the need for higher taxes is, taken by itself, one of the more hypocritical arguments to waft through these ears in a long time.The notion that higher taxes are needed to avoid layoffs makes no sense during a recession, when the state's private economy faces the same dilemma. Why not have the state government give money back to the private sector so the private sector can avoid layoffs?The argument that state revenues must be increased to save essential public services is the best-sounding defense of higher taxes.

A recent article in The Sun noted Maryland's dismal position as last in the nation in terms of the number of jobs created. Of the words that came to my mind, "shocked" was not one of them. Throughout my 2010 campaign for the office of state comptroller, I warned voters of this exact situation. The policies that have been a mainstay in Annapolis for decades have driven Maryland into a state of economic ruin. (And, just for the record, both Democrats and Republicans are to blame.) Throughout the campaign, I promoted a "Texas model" to spur economic growth here in Maryland.

A few disciplined and determined Anne Arundel County Council members may have saved John R. Leopold from himself. Through deft budget cuts and the shelving of a few favored projects, the council found $43 million in the county executive's spending plan to meet the school system's needs and spare hoteliers an increase in the room tax. Council members may have satisfied worried education leaders and a vocal business lobby, but they've basically passed the...

The fate of Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to overhaul Maryland's tax structure remained unclear yesterday after legislators held marathon hearings on his $1.1 billion package. Liberal groups, religious organizations, labor unions and others came out in force to support the plan, which they said would make Maryland's tax structure more progressive. O'Malley has proposed a series of increases, cuts and expansions to the sales, tobacco, income and property taxes. Small-business owners and their advocates were at least as vigorous in their arguments that the package would make Maryland less-competitive and hurt the economy.

The Supreme Court is about to take up a case that could change the world for municipal bond investors and make financing more expensive for some state and local governments. The court will hear a lawsuit on Nov. 5 by two Kentucky investors who say it's unfair for that state to exempt its own bonds from state income tax while taxing the interest generated by other states' bonds. That has long been standard practice in this country, and it in effect creates a captive audience for a state's IOUs.

Annapolis : State House Pipkin letter chides O'Malley on travel State Sen. E.J. Pipkin, an Eastern Shore Republican, sent a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley last week, questioning his trip to Ireland in the midst of the state's budget crisis and suggesting he check out that country's tax structure. O'Malley, who has called a special session of the General Assembly for Oct. 29, went on a trip paid for by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. He planned to attend an event at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland with Dr. Robert C. Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology and Division of Basic Science at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.

Mahlon Straszheim gives Gov. Martin O'Malley his due. At least he has proposed a plan to deal with the state's fiscal problem instead of just hoping it would go away. "The state's budget deficit problem is real," said the economics professor. "This is not an imagined problem. We face very difficult actions if we are going to balance our books here." In recent weeks, O'Malley rolled out a series of tax proposals designed to raise money to make up for the deficit caused mainly by the promises made to public schools in the Thornton legislation, promises that came without funding.

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. William Donald Schaefer said yesterday that Maryland's tax structure must be changed if the state is to address the problems of its poorest subdivisions, but he declined to say which new recommendations of a blue-ribbon tax study commission he would adopt as his own.The only thing certain, he said, is that there will be opposition in the General Assembly for whatever portions of the report he recommends."

Constituents have spoken, and they haven't minced words on the topic of the almighty dollar, says Sen. Charles H. Smelser, D-Carroll, Frederick, Howard.A fiscal conservative by nature, Smelser's opinions on a controversial proposal to revamp Maryland's tax structure and generate additional revenue have been reinforced by numerous calls and letters to his office.R. Robert Linowes, chairman of the Maryland Commission on State Taxes and Tax Structure, told the Senate Budget and Taxation CommitteeWednesday that prompt action on the panel's recommendations -- regardless of the recession -- is essential for Maryland's economic health.

When the real budget crunch comes - sometime soon - we may see a re-enactment of the "firefighters first" syndrome. The concept involves a kind of aggressive tutorial on what government does with your tax money. Here's how it works: You're a mayor or governor who needs to raise money to make the budget work. Knowing that no one wants to pay more taxes, you announce that matters are so dire that cuts will be made in the fire department. This gets people's attention. It suggests that taxes pay for essential services.

Maryland's Board of Revenue Estimates said yesterday that tax collections will be about $50 million less than expected in the current fiscal year and the next, a further sign that softening in the economy will exacerbate the state's budget problems in the next few years. Some fiscal leaders in Annapolis had worried that the revenue drop-off would be much worse, forcing Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly to make immediate, deep reductions to the current budget and the one now being debated in the legislature.