Maryland should institute a two-year moratorium on all tax and fee increases, Comptroller Peter Franchot said at a meeting of the Board of Revenue Estimates.
“The economy right now is too fragile, and introducing new taxes or increased fees would just be an increased hardship on Maryland families,” said Comptroller spokesman Joseph Shapiro.
Franchot pointed to stagnant job growth and the state’s 7.4 percent unemployment rate.
Franchot’s urging comes less than two weeks after a state panel recommended raising gasoline and titling taxes, as well as a number of other fees, to fund the $12 billion the state needs for transportation projects. Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake urged state lawmakers last month to support these revenue-earning efforts.
“Nobody wants to pay additional fees, but we have needs for our infrastructures that are crumbling around the state,” Baker told The Washington Examiner Wednesday.
Gov. Martin O’Malley also has emphasized the need to bring in new revenue.
“There are many projects that need to move forward,” said O’Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory. “Unless there is some investment of funds, those projects will remain stagnant, including repairing roads, repairing bridges, building new roads [and] building new schools.”
But the state can find the money it needs simply by balancing the budget, Shapiro said.
Some say raising the transportation taxes could create jobs by funding construction projects and attract businesses by improving transportation.
“I am for growth,” said Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Larry Spriggs. “I’m not for a lot of taxes, but that’s how in part you’re going to survive.”
Spriggs, who is the president and CEO of SoftCon Enterprises, emphasized the need for improved transit options in Prince George’s.
However, not raising corporate income tax and other business-related taxes will benefit a state often accused of not being business-friendly enough to compete with neighboring states like Virginia, business leaders say.
“Now is not the time to increase business costs through higher taxes,” said Maryland Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Government Affairs Ron Wineholt. “Maryland has to be competitive with other states if businesses are going to be retained here [or if] we’ll have the opportunity to attract additional businesses.”
Not raising taxes will attract businesses and, in turn, create jobs, said Maryland Business for Responsive Government President Kim Burns.
And recruiting businesses that want to establish headquarters in Maryland will bring the executives who can support local arts and education programs, said Montgomery Chamber of Commerce President Gigi Godwin.
“We’re not doing what we can to bring those kinds of opportunities here,” she said.
Ben Giles contributed to this article.
