Our last coverage of the Maryland Rain Tax left off with Carroll County officials threatening to boycott the storm water management fee, which would have resulted in state sanctions. County commissioners have instead opted to fund the mandate by instituting grants and diverting county funds. Maryland is the only state that enacted a new taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. to fund the Chesapeake Bay relief efforts. However, Carroll County decided to follow the lead of the other states and find the money in the budget without hiking taxes.
Carroll County has set aside $20 million in funding to pay their share of the levy, the majority of this money coming from diverting funds from county run storm water management projects to the state- mandated project. Carroll County Commissioner Robin Frazier stated Carroll County did not follow neighboring county’s protests such as Frederick County’s penny tax because, in her words, “once a tax is in place it can easily be raised.”
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