The following article is from the Annapolis Gazette for February 2, 2008. So, in order to provide decent support, for example, for the troops in Afghanistan, we should have the soldiers and their families pay special fees for body armor, or helicopters, or extra ammunition belts.
No, the reason we have governments is to collect taxes to perform services — you don’t get to pick and choose what you pay for. It’s NOT a bazaar, folks. You don’t “opt in” to paying taxes, and you don’t lie to the public by claiming it’s not a grapefruit, it’s a grape.
[The Five-to-Remember are Daryl Jones, Ed Middlebrook, Ed Reilly, Cathy Vitale, and John Leopold.]
Comparing ‘grapefruits and grapes’
Leopold looks to fees – not taxes – for help
The county is simply looking for the authority to impose fees that can actually cover the true costs for inspection and other services, rather than having the burden spread out to all county residents, the county executive said.
Although the state allows counties to set fees based on anticipated costs, Anne Arundel can only charge a maximum of $300 for food establishment licensing, inspection and regulation duties. Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County are all exempt from that cap.
Permit fees for inspecting wells, collecting water samples and issuing certificates of potability are also stopped at $160 per well.
County officials estimate they are losing about $530,000 a year because of the caps. They propose increasing the food fees to $500 for full-service restaurants and $325 for businesses such as convenience stores, and hiking the well-drilling permit price to $500.
County officials have stressed to members of the state legislature that the fee increases are an attempt to “break even” and are not a way to get a windfall of profit or expand their operations.
“Frankly the state mandates that we cover these costs,” Mr. Leopold said during a meeting of the county’s delegation on Friday. “Otherwise, all the taxpayers are subsidizing private entities.”
It is important to make the distinction between a fee geared toward covering a specific service, and a general tax, especially as residents worry about how the government is affecting their wallets, said Del. Ted Sophocleus, D-Linthicum,
“Is this the proper time to implement the total package of fees?” Mr. Sophocleus, a moderate member of the House Appropriations Committee, asked Mr. Leopold. “People are concerned about how much more they can afford.”
The county executive replied that his government simply has to recoup its costs.
“It’s absolutely the right time (to raise fees),” Mr. Leopold said. “The needs in this county are enormous but our resources are finite.”
Fees are typically just the cost of doing business in the county, Mr. Kipke said, and the government has a responsibility to make sure its inspection program stays healthy and vigilant in oversight work.
But each increase still has a price associated with it, he said.
“The last thing I want to see is small ‘mom and pops’ having another burden when they are already having a hard time making ends meet,” Mr. Kipke said.
Hard times
The county’s situation may not be as dire as the state’s last year, when the state had a $1.5 billion deficit – but the poor economy and cuts in aid are still grinding down the county’s budget.
Anne Arundel is slated to get about $417 million of state aid in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed fiscal 2009 budget, which is only a $6.3 million, or a 1.5 percent, increase over last year, according to the Department of Legislative Services.
On average, each local government is getting a 1.5 percent state funding increase, a sharp fall from previous years. Since 2005, the annual increase has been 9 percent or more, reaching a zenith of 12.6 percent in Mr. O’Malley’s first budget in fiscal 2008.
The economic picture is even more bleak when the amount of money given statewide to county and municipal governments – discounting increases in funds for public schools, libraries, local health departments or community colleges – is isolated. Those allowances are planned to decrease 13 percent, a total of $122.4 million.
In total, Anne Arundel County is ranked 21st of out the 24 Maryland counties and Baltimore City in terms of per capita state aid, getting just $819 per resident versus the state average of $1,171.
The county is also dealing with the slouching housing market, as the lack of real estate activity will probably put the government $10 million behind original expectations for transfer and recordation taxes.
Recently, Mr. Leopold has embarked on what he describes as a “full-court press” to shore up the county’s budget picture by looking for more revenue outside of big ticket items such as the property or income tax. This is reflected in both his proposals before the state and the county council, where he is lobbying to increase the impact fees paid by developers.
As part of the General Assembly’s “local courtesy” tradition, most legislation that affects only one jurisdiction is virtually assured of passage if its delegation supports it.
If either the House or Senate delegation of Anne Arundel County votes down a local bill, however, it is essentially killed before it reaches the floor. For example, the school board reform bill that finally passed last year died consistently over time because the county senators were not in favor of it.
When he seeks revenue increases, Mr. Leopold will face a cautionary group of politicians, particularly in the House where a majority of the 15 delegates are either Republican or fiscally conservative Democrats.
Yet some agree with Mr. Leopold’s perspective on the issue.
“Fees are not taxes,” said Del. Steve Schuh, R-Gibson Island, a member of the House Appropriations Committee who has gradually become one of the leading Republican voices on budget issues.
When a revenue measure is proposed, it has to be analyzed as to whether it is a fee meant to hit a specific population for a specific purpose, or if it is much broader in reach, Mr. Schuh said.
For example, the surcharge on Maryland water bills to pay for sewer plant upgrades and improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay – a surcharge that has come to be known as the “flush tax” – could not be called a fee because it is even charged to people who are outside of the bay’s watershed, he said.
“The county executive is rightly looking at the entire revenue structure throughout the county,” he said. “I don’t have a philosophical issue.”
The county is in a bind with its cap on property tax revenue increases, said Del. Bob Costa, R-Deale. Each year, assessments can increase only 2 percent and tax collections can swell by 4.5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.
However, the constant drumbeat for tax and fee increases from the state and county governments makes it difficult to sign off on everything, he said.
“When are we going to be able to take a breath?” Mr. Costa said. “In the aggregate, it is overwhelming … It is all the incremental increases that will have a cumulative effect.”
Fees are easier to support than taxes because they are less broad and target the specific individuals receiving government help, said Del. Tony McConkey, R-Severna Park.
“It is unfair for everyone to share the burden for a small group,” he said.
But the tax increases are still fresh in people’s minds, Mr. McConkey said. In a general sense, that could hurt present and future efforts by Mr. Leopold to get more revenue.
“We are pretty much at the limit,” he said. “I think the county is more efficient than the state government, but unfortunately they are going to be penalized.”
