32 New Taxes And Fees - And Counting

Annapolis - Change Maryland released today an updated list of tax, fee and toll increases enacted under the O'Malley Administration. This latest report shows 32 increases that remove $2.3 billion out of the economy annually. As final passage in the legislature of yet more record-high taxes and fees appear imminent, the list is a reminder of the ever-increasing amount struggling Marylander's are being asked to pay for the big-government ambitions of politicians.

Fully sourced using Department of Legislative Services analysis, executive branch budget documents and fiscal notes from bills, the list is the only comprehensive analysis of what Marylander's are paying in levies over and above existing taxes and fees since 2007.

"This will not be a slide in the Governor's power point presentations," said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan. "We're finding yet again, it's time to pull the curtain back on this Administration. Elected officials and bureaucrats don't want their tax, fee and toll increases to be public and understandable, so we did it for them in the interest of promoting fiscal responsibility and transparency."

Sorted by date, the revenue measures chronicle the state’s emergence as a national leader in imposing broad levies either through either traditional forms, or more recently, in novel ways such as to advance narrow policy agendas. The General Assembly's presiding officers and the Governor are making a unified push in 2013 to raise motor fuel taxes and to pay for offshore wind by increasing utility bills to customers. Change Maryland will footnote those proposals as they work through the legislative process and add those in another list to be released separately.

In 2012, increases centered on raising revenues on individuals in the form of new tax brackets for those making just $100,000 - taking the class warfare argument down to an entire new income level. That year also saw the creation of a new role for state government in local land use decisions - in the form of a stormwater management fee that essentially taxes rainwater and that is expected to collect over $300 million annually for government coffers.

The year 2011 was noted for record toll increases - $90 million extra to pay for using tunnels, bridges and toll roads. Together with 2012, this was also the years of fee increases on literally all aspects of human life including additional levies to buy alcohol, obtain a birth certificate, a death certificate, a contractor's license, a license plate, to stay in a hospital and use indoor plumbing.

In 2009 and 2010, Marylanders were forced to pay more to fish and drive a car thanks to additional fees for licensing and a speed camera system that doesn't work and that elected officials are now trying to distance themselves from.

The Change Maryland analysis includes the extraordinary special session of 2007, a year that saw the ill-conceived computer services tax and massive revenue generators including increases in the individual income, sales and corporate income taxes. All told, legislation of the special session of 2007 adds nearly $1 billion in revenues to the state each year. The computer services and millionaire's taxes, two measures that caused Maryland to be a
national embarrassment in the eyes of the business community, are listed but not included in the revenue that is generated as these measures are no longer in effect.

The grassroots organization periodically updates this list based on newly-discovered measures often buried in legislation and counts separate revenue-raising components individually when they are rolled into omnibus legislation.

"It's hard to believe but they're not done yet", said Hogan. "The Governor and his enablers in the legislature are asking for even more tax increases in the next few weeks. This may very well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. One-party monopoly rule is just too expensive. We need balance and a healthy and competitive two-party system. The taxpayers of Maryland have had enough."