In the next four years as governor, would Republican incumbent Robert Ehrlich or Democratic nominee Martin O?Malley charge you more to run the state government? If past performance is any predictor, the answer is probably both. Each man has raised taxes and fees in their current jobs.
In the last four years, O?Malley says Ehrlich “increased taxes” by $3 billion, despite Ehrlich?s claim that he?s kept the lid on taxes. The largest sources of state revenues are the income and sales taxes that go into the general fund. These are based on percentage rates. As incomes and the price of goods rise, so do the taxes on them. Ehrlich raised neither rate.
Ehrlich increased mostly flat fees, dedicated to specific services. Through the Board of Public Works, he increased the state property tax by 4.8 cents, directing that money to paying off state bonds. That rate was cut by 2 cents this year.
With the Maryland legislature?s approval, Ehrlich did impose a $2.50 a month fee on sewage and septic use to go into a Chesapeake Restoration Fund to reduce pollution, a charge Democrats dubbed the “flush tax.” He also raised corporate filing fees and nearly doubled vehicle registration fees, rejecting a hike in the gasoline tax because gas prices already were high.
At the time he took office, “Maryland ranked 47th in per capita spending on roads,” said the governor?s chief of staff, James “Chip” DiPaula. “The state was way behind on road projects.”
The governor repeatedly asserts that he “defeated” $7.5 billion in taxes proposed by the General Assembly. He certainly was against the taxes, including a 1 cent increase in the 5 percent sales tax, a $3 billion measure that passed the House. But all of the tax hikes were voted down in House or Senate committees.
As mayor, O?Malley faced the same fiscal pressures that Ehrlich did, as the economy slowed. While he did engineer cuts in the city property tax rate ? the highest in the state ? the mayor raised a series of other taxes, including the local income tax by 20 percent. He doubled the recordation tax on real estate, created an energy tax on nonprofit groups and residents and hiked water and sewer rates.
Four years ago, O?Malley also urged the General Assembly to roll back a cut in income tax and favored an increase in the tobacco tax. He now opposes another $1 a pack tobacco tax hike to pay for health coverage for the uninsured, but last week, he refused to rule out further tax increases.
Despite cutting the number of positions in state government, the overall state budget rose 29 percent in Ehrlich?s first four years, legislative analysts say. In O?Malley?s first term, his budget rose by 14 percent.
