The integrity of the lawmaking process has been questioned as the Howard County Council weighs whether to change its senior tax cut law or evaluate it after it goes into effect this year.
“Was it purely politics to gain the senior vote?” Ellicott City resident Donald Bandel said during testimony before the council Monday.
The previous council passed the tax cut during last fall?s election season.
Bandel asked how residents can respect lawmakers who pass a bill and immediately try to change it.
“What events or issues caused you to rewrite something they?ve done?” asked Robert Styer, of Woodbine.
One bill before the council, sponsored by Council Chairman Calvin Ball, D-District 2, changes the qualification requirements for the senior tax credit, such as tying the income cap to the federal poverty level. His bill is based on task force recommendations.
Council Member Greg Fox, R-District 5, is pushing a separate measure that would keep the senior tax cut as it is, while encouraging residents to first apply for other tax credits.
Both are considering amendments to further tweak the measure aimed at fixing the law.
Council Member Courtney Watson, D-District 1, said she doesn?t like the message that repealing a bill the previous council passed sends to the public.
“You want people to believe in the public process,” she said. “If you pass a bill, it needs to mean something.”
However, at the time of the tax credit?s passage, Ball said he had concerns about the bill. When he voted for it, he said he wanted a committee to examine the measure. The formation of the task force was among his first moves on the new council, a resolution the full council supported.
