Our story last week on a national study, “Tax flight is a myth,” produced more reader comments than any we’ve posted this summer. Some supported the study’s conclusion, but most scoffed. One of the comments came from Frederick County businessman Mark Gaver, for whom fleeing from Maryland taxes is now a personal reality.
Len Lazarick
Briefs: S&P keeps Maryland’s AAA; Bongino in Discovery documentary
An S&P analyst has told Maryland officials the firm will take “no action” on the state’s current AAA bond rating given just last month, Treasurer Nancy Kopp announced; Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino is in Los Angeles this week filming a documentary about the Secret Service, where he spent 12 years, including service as head of the presidential protection detail.
Friday’s redistricting hearing pushed up to accommodate Jewish Sabbath
The Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Committee’s plan to hold public hearings around the state ran into a hitch in the Baltimore metro area. Of the two hearings scheduled there, both conflicted with the Jewish Sabbath, an unexpected problem that has since been resolved by starting Friday’s hearing earlier.
Probation officers are stretched too thin, union head says
The state’s probation officers are overworked and stretched too thin, making their vital public safety role more difficult to fulfill, says the head of the union for parole and probation workers.
Teachers union rejects pension commission proposals
The state teachers union is rejecting most of the final recommendations of the special pension commission, particularly its proposal to shift half the funding of pensions onto county school boards or governments. In a strong letter to the governor and legislative leaders, the union also wants county governments to be forced to fully fund school budgets and to give them authority to raise more taxes or disregard local tax caps.
State Roundup, August 5, 2011
Maryland retains Aaa rating after debt ceiling agreement; Baltimore man starts viral “slow clap for Congress;” FAA shutdown is holding up $1 million in grants; Marcellus shale drilling regulations timeline makes sparks fly at meeting; state would be able to get money from Hagerstown solar project.
Leaving state to avoid taxes is ‘a myth,’ study says
Higher state taxes don’t lead many residents to leave a state, including affluent taxpayers, a new study says. The report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released Thursday uses several economic studies from academics and think-tanks to debunk the arguments that taxes drive people from states like Maryland, particularly the wealthy.
Not all audits are bad: One out of four state agencies has a clean one
In the review of all government agencies over last three years, 47 state agencies have had perfectly clean audits with no problems found.
Debt ceiling vote creates strange bedfellows
The votes on the debt ceiling deal in Congress made strange bedfellows in Maryland’s congressional delegation.
Raise taxes, and they’ll move, constituents tell one delegate
In response to our story yesterday that the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute was recommending $2.6 billion in new taxes, Del. Ron George of Annapolis, a conservative Republican, sent us a sample of the kind of e-mails he gets from constituents. Contrary to what institute director Neil Bergsman said, these folks say they will move out of state or at least shop there if taxes go up again.
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