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Health & Fitness

Rain Tax a Bust

This blog first appeared in the July Edition of the Bay Journal. Many thanks to Karl Blankenship for publishing it.

I think it’s now apparent to most politicians in the ten Maryland Counties impacted by the “Rain Tax” as its detractors like to refer to it, that the Maryland legislature dumped a sloppily drafted law in their laps to sort out. The net result is uneven, unfair fees being establish by those counties, the worst of which are making a mockery of the law by establishing a one cent tax (Frederick) or even disregarding the law altogether (Carroll).  The Maryland legislature has an unfortunate history of producing well-meaning laws which are virtually unenforceable, most notably the state’s Open Meetings Act.

The new stormwater fee law is well intended but the result of too many compromises; perhaps too many chefs in the kitchen. The biggest error in the process of drafting this law was to allow the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) to lobby the legislators into the quagmire of fees which are not clearly established across the board and a clear path of enforcement for any County that ignores the law.

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Initially I had hoped that Bay advocacy organizations such as CBF and the Alliance for the Chesapeake could get out into the field to counter the hype being put out by the Pave the Bay politicians but given their use of political propaganda and demagoguery, it appears that the Pavers have the upper hand at the moment.

I believe the solution is for Maryland lawmakers who really have the welfare of the Bay at heart is to revisit this legislation before the 2014 session begins and have a solid solution at the ready. MACo has allowed itself to become the dog wagged by a few loudmouth tails in Counties that feel no responsibility to the health of either the Bay or Marylanders. It’s time to neutralize that mouthpiece which no longer sees the benefits to the Chesapeake as benefits to each of its Counties.

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