April 15, 2008...6:53 am
Parallel Maryland - How Wide the Divide?
In Maryland’s parallel universes, I wonder if there are any points of contact between the universes.
For example, Albert Einstein High School in Kensington (Montgomery County) is a pretty good public high school, as public high schools go. Einstein is located in one of the richest counties in the richest state in the richest nation on planet Earth.
Of the 5.6 million people living in Maryland, approximately 6,000 are fortunate enough to qualify for the “Millionaires’ Tax.” How many of the 6,000 people earning over $1 million per year do you think have a child at Albert Einstein High School? How many do you think have a child at any public school in Maryland?
There’s this universe of folks who pay the “Millionaires’ Tax,” and there’s another universe of children who attend public schools. Does the millionaires’ universe intersect at any point with the public school universe? Or do the millionaires and the public schools run parallel from here to eternity? – Bernie Hayden
1 Comment
April 16, 2008 at 9:26 am
In response to this post and your previous post, I would say there is a great deal of intersect between these two groups. The roughly 2,400 millionaires who live in Montgomery County generate nearly 25% of the county’s income tax revenue. The income tax provides almost half of the county’s revenues, and the school system accounts for roughly half of the county’s budget. Therefore, one could argue that these millionaires pay one-quarter of the school systems budget. Put another way, they are paying to educate 35,000 children each year. I will leave their property taxes to pay for the other county services they may use.
I totally agree that taxing income over $1 million at a rate higher than income below $1 million is more progressive. However, I think we also have to review what we are getting for this new tax. This new bracket is being used to back fill the lost General Fund revenue that is being diverted to transportation by way of a partial dedication of the sales tax. This new money is not going to education or public safety or any other program to improve education or fight gangs. This money will be used in Montgomery County to build a new interchange at Georgia and Randolph and to improve intersections around the Bethesda Naval Hospital. I doubt that small improvements to traffic congestion in these neighborhoods will result in decreased gang activity.
Finally, I worry about what all these new taxes do to our county’s ability to meet its needs. Last summer, Ike Leggett and Marilyn Praisner implored the county delegation to only support state tax increases to the extent that the county would retain flexibility to raise its own revenues. It would be ironic if this new progressive state bracket ends up damaging the ability of the state’s most progressive local government to continue to deliver quality services.
Just taxing millionaires more for the sake of taxing millionaires more is no great accomplishment in my book.
Leave a Reply