Rain Tax Alternative Stalled in Committee

Alternative to rain tax stalls in conference committee

A measure that would institute an alternative to the hotly debated stormwater management fee stalled during Wednesday’s budget conference committee negotiations.

Prince George’s County Del. Tawanna Gaines, a Democrat, asked conferees to hold the amendment while she and the senator from her district, Sen. Paul Pinsky, seek an attorney general’s opinion to determine if the amendment violates the Maryland constitution’s “one-subject” rule.

The amendment from Anne Arundel Democrat Sen. James Ed DeGrange would permit the 10 affected jurisdictions to carve out a portion of their property taxes to fund local stormwater management programs.

The constitution dictates a piece of legislation can only pertain to a single issue, and the amendment does not affect the state budget they are working on.
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Pinsky was a sponsor on the 2012 Senate bill that enacted the stormwater fees, dubbed by its opponents as a “rain tax.” Ultimately the House version passed the General Assembly that year, instituting the controversial program meant to clean up stormwater polluting the Chesapeake Bay.

For those not familiar with Maryland politics, the "Rain Tax" is actually a tax on impermeable surfaces on private property (the government doesn't pay, of course) in five metropolitan counties in Maryland, designed to collect money to help fund the stormwater abatement projects as part of the so called "Bay Diet."

As a homeowner outside the metropolitan area (just barely), my interest in it is mostly academic, until they decide to expand its scope to Calvert County (as seems inevitable).  I do, however, enjoy watching the blue counties squirm under the threat of taxes.