Taxpayers

In the April 27 edition of The Sun there was a story by Kevin Rector about recently passed legislation to allow home prescriptions of Naloxone that could be administered to users of heroin who have overdosed ("Maryland families to get new tool in fight against drug overdoses"). In the article it was reported that the program will cost $50,000 in the next fiscal year and will increase over time. Why is it that every time someone makes a poor life decision, in this case using heroin, the remainder of society bears the burden for that poor decision?

Little noticed during the publicity over gun control and efforts to repeal the death penalty is another significant spending increase proposed by Governor O'Malley. With no regard for the future impact on Maryland taxpayers since O'Malley will not be governor then, he has proposed another unjustifiably huge increase in the Maryland budget. The state budget has grown from $29.6 billion in 2008 to a proposed $37.2 billion in 2014 (up from $35.8 billion in 2013). These unbridled state spending increases continue while the nation's fragile economy continues to struggle and hard-working state residents must work even harder to make ends meet. Federal employees are entering their third year of a pay freeze with the prospect of furloughs and another 20 percent loss of pay this year. O'Malley, likely looking for support for a future national office run, is now proposing a 3 percent pay increase for state workers. How will this pay increase be funded?

Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson says a survey by her office last year found that 55 percent of taxpayers don't think they have any rights when dealing with the IRS. Only 9 percent knew correctly that they did. Olson says on her blog that Congress passed three pieces of legislation since 2007 giving taxpayers greater protections. She writes: “As a result of legislation, we have taxpayer rights, but no one knows what they are. And if taxpayers don't know what their rights are, how can they claim them?

MARYLAND VOTERS signaled a fiscal restiveness in the Nov. 6 elections. But a close look at the results does not indicate that the state is in the throes of taxpayer revolt.Clearly there is growing concern around the state about taxes -- primarily property taxes. Yet, these concerns were not so overwhelming as to cause the electorate to approve caps on even that major source of local revenue.Indeed, property-tax caps were rejected in Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties. And in Montgomery County, the least burdensome restriction -- which authorized a removable cap not exceeding the Consumer Price Index and provided no cap at all on new growth -- was approved.

The IRS has been granting more leniency to struggling taxpayers through a program called Fresh Start. Now the agency says it is expanding this effort by offering more flexible terms in its Offer in Compromise program. This is the program where the IRS agrees to settle for less than what's owed because it knows it can't squeeze anything more out of a taxpayer. The IRS says it has changed the financial analysis used to determine whether a taxpayer qualifies for the program. For example, when the IRS calculates how much it can collect from you, it will base that on 1 to 2 years of expected future income, rather than the usual 4 or 5 years.

Maryland's Republican Party wants Gov. Martin O'Malley to reimburse taxpayers for the $100,000 spent last year by the state police protecting him on out-of-state trips. “The use of taxpayer dollars to cover travel and security for you to attend political events across the country does not, in our view, constitute the most responsible use of taxpayer dollars,” said House GOP leader Anthony O'Donnell in a letter he sent today to the governor. The Sun reported last week that the state police spent just under $100,000 traveling with the governor on 26 out-of-state trips from January through September.

The Baltimore Board of Estimates will hold its annual Taxpayers' Night at 7 p.m. today at the War Memorial building across from City Hall.Residents may tell the mayor, council president, comptroller and other board members what they want the city to include in its spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.Residents will have a limited amount of time to voice their concerns, and board members will not respond to comments or questions.Pub Date: 4/21/98

A lawyer representing the head of a county taxpayers group is asking a judge to overturn immediately a four-year-old law that created a lucrative pension fund for elected and appointed officials.Robert C. Schaeffer, president of the Anne Arundel Taxpayers Association, filed suit in Circuit Court in September seeking to void the pension fund. His attorney, John R. Greiber Jr., said he submitted a motion for summary judgment yesterday in hopes of speeding up the suit and avoiding a lengthy discovery process.

WASHINGTON -- Federal entitlement programs for older citizens, if kept at their present funding levels, will have "catastrophic consequences" on the incomes and living standards of American workers in the next century, the National Taxpayers Union said yesterday.Releasing a study that it said was based on the government's own economic projections, the taxpayers' group sounded a warning that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid may become too heavy a burden for younger workers. The organization said it foresees total tax rates as high as 69 percent for average workers by the year 2040 if these programs continue in their present forms.

IMAGINE a young couple, planning their wedding, making the arrangements for a new life together, thinking about the changes that married life will bring. Under todays tax laws, one of the unexpected -- and unwelcome -- surprises awaiting them comes when April 15 rolls around. Because of the combined effects of the provisions of our tax code, many married couples pay more in federal income taxes than the two individuals would owe if they were not married. The need to provide relief from this marriage tax penalty is a top priority of Congress.