MD: New Tax on Rain

[CaseyJones]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/ellicott-city/ph-council-stormwater-fee-20130328,0,7762933.story


Howard County property owners can expect to see a new fee on their annual tax bill in July.

After a three-hour legislative session Thursday that included the passage of 17 amendments, the Howard County Council voted to approve legislation creating a state-mandated stormwater fee to fund stormwater restoration projects. The average residential property owner will be charged about $105, according to county officials, but the fees are expected to be lower for most residential property owners in the east part of the county and higher than $105 for most in the west.

“It is going to impact everyone in the county,” Council member Mary Kay Sigaty said. “I believe that what we have done is to create a fair system of assessment.”

more at link ^

[jbauer]

They've got us by the balls. If we try to own property to get away from "them" all they have to do is tax the tar out of us.

[TonySutton]

Howard County population 287k, with a density of 1139 per square mile. The county I currently live in is about the same population but only half the density. I can't wait to get out of here.

[aGameOfThrones]

All I want to do is *bang, bang, bang, bang* take your money!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4pyKX4rw88k/UMbqdo6fmnI/AAAAAAAAMfI/BsHwlqKxlVI/s1600/&+then+there+is+the+politician.jpg

[BAllen]

Property is owned by the government. Citizens merely rent it. If they can tell you what to do with, they own it.

[Acala]

This is a direct result of Federal environmental regulations. The Federal government regulates local governments that operate stormwater drainage systems that empty into "waters of the US". That includes basically every street, gutter, ditch, and culvert in the country. Local governments are required to get a permit from the EPA for operating those "systems". Every time the permit gets renewed, the EPA demands more from the regulated community in terms of controls on the system. They want more testing, more detention basins, more public education, enacting and enforcing local ordinances, street sweeping, dust control, and on and on and on. There are serious costs associated with meeting the Federal regulations and there really is no way for the local government to just get out of the business. So local government is passing the costs on to the property owners who discharge stormwater into the system. It is actually a good thing in that it lets people feel the cost of environmental regulations directly. And typically if the property owner can show no discharge, they can get out of the fee, although I have not looked at the exact language in this particular case.

The public wants EPA to regulate the environment, so here's the bill. If you don't like it, reign in the EPA.

[A Son of Liberty]

The county administration had proposed charging property owners $7.80 for every 500 square feet of impervious surface in the first year with the fee escalating to more the $20 in subsequent years.

Impervious surfaces include paved driveways and rooftops. The county's Geographic Information Services will determine the amount of impervious surface for each property.


Gravel driveways and tall, skinny houses. Who wants to bet the elevator lobby is behind this? ;)

In all seriousness, the state of Maryland, under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, is hostile territory. I've had enough interaction with MDE in my professional life that, if I were not already a libertarian, I would become one.

I've bought property in a neighboring state, but it has enough enviro-loonie regs itself. Just try looking into building a house without access to municipal waste in Pennsylvania. One nice thing about that state is that it's big enough that I'm hoping I can kind of get lost in the wilderness. ;)

[Anti Federalist]

Property is owned by the government. Citizens merely rent it. If they can tell you what to do with, they own it.

That's right.

We are all just squatters on the King's Land.

And we stay only as long as they favor us to do so.

[Origanalist]

Gravel driveways and tall, skinny houses. Who wants to bet the elevator lobby is behind this? ;)

In all seriousness, the state of Maryland, under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, is hostile territory. I've had enough interaction with MDE in my professional life that, if I were not already a libertarian, I would become one.

I've bought property in a neighboring state, but it has enough enviro-loonie regs itself. Just try looking into building a house without access to municipal waste in Pennsylvania. One nice thing about that state is that it's big enough that I'm hoping I can kind of get lost in the wilderness. ;)

Good luck.