New bill would change tax laws to fund schools

Maryland State Senator Richard S. Madaleno (D-8) proposed a bill last month that would allow county governments to raise property taxes above the charter limit in order to fund education.

According to Adam Fogel, Madaleno's Chief of Staff, counties have charters which prevent them from raising taxes above a certain limit. In Montgomery County, the limit is the rate of inflation. Currently, the Montgomery County Council is allowed to raise property taxes above this limit, but only with a unanimous vote by the county council. If passed, Madaleno's bill would allow the county to raise taxes above the limit after a simple majority vote instead of a unanimous vote, Fogel said.

The bill would give counties greater flexibility in drafting a budget and help them maintain adequate school funding in a tough economic climate, Fogel said. He added that MCPS is a popular school system that makes Montgomery County an attractive location for many families. "The residents of Montgomery County want to ensure that we retain the level of excellence that we currently have," he said.

However, some councilmembers have expressed their concern about the bill. According to Fogel, Council President Valerie Ervin (D-5) has requested to exclude Montgomery County from the bill since it already has a method of raising taxes above the charter limit, unlike other counties.

Councilmember Nancy Floreen (D) said that the bill would go against public opinion since county residents voted to create the policy requiring a unanimous vote in a recent referendum. "I am extremely uncomfortable with the prospect of undermining decisions that voters have made, which this does," she said.

Floreen also said that the bill unfairly favors education as opposed to other county agencies that must be funded. "The issue of the right funding levels across county agencies is a very complicated matter that is the obligation of local elected authorities to resolve, not the state," she said. Fogel, on the other hand, said that the bill would help county governments overall because the extra money they generated for education would put less strain on other parts of the budget.

The school system takes up over half of the county's budget, said Neil Greenberger, the Legislative Information Officer for the county council. County Executive Isiah Leggett has indicated that the his budget proposal for MCPS will not meet Maintenance of Effort, a law that requires the school system to spend at least the same amount of money per student as it did the previous year. Although the county will not meet this mandate, Greenberger said that the Leggett and the council have said that they will not increase property taxes this year.