Lawmakers turn to charges, not taxes, to balance budgets Washington-area residents should brace for a litany of fee increases in coming months, as state and local governments have turned to the often cryptic and more politically acceptable charges to stem the tide of red ink.
Across the region, it will become more expensive to park your car, take a bus, purchase alcohol and even buy a vanity license plate, among other heightened consumer charges approved or being pursued to fill looming shortfalls.
| Tapping your wallet |
| Maryland |
| • Certificate-of-title fees for vehicles rise from $50 to $100. |
| • Vanity license plate fees double from $25 to $50. |
| • Paperwork for buying a new car increases from $100 to $200. |
| • A fee for filing land records doubles from $20 to $40. |
| Montgomery County (proposed) |
| • 5 cent-charge for each paper and plastic bag from stores |
| • $64 more annually in water and sewage rates |
| • $13 increase to the annual storm water management fee |
| • Increase the monthly Ride On bus pass from $30 to $45. |
| • Raise parking rates by 10 cents an hour in Bethesda and Silver Spring and charge for Saturday parking in Bethesda. |
| District (proposed) |
| • Double Circulator bus fare to $2. |
| • Raise the parking-garage tax from 12 to 18 percent. |
| • Increase off-premise alcohol taxes from 9 to 10 percent. |
| • Tax cigarettes at the wholesale level. |
| Fairfax County |
| • Sewer rates will jump from $5.27 to $6.01 per 1,000 gallons. |
| • Sewage connection charges will increase from $6 per foot to $152.50 per foot. |
| • Fees for zoning paperwork and land development services also increase. |
| How much for Md. booze? |
| Beginning in July, Marylanders will pay a 50 percent higher sales tax for alcohol ?– roughly 30 additional cents for every $10 purchased. |
| For decades, the proposal was too politically toxic to pass the state General Assembly. Facing a $1.6 billion shortfall, however, the steeper tax was enacted sooner rather than later. |
| The measure originally would have increased the sales tax on alcohol from 6 percent to 9 percent over three years but was amended to go into effect fully next fiscal year. |
| As a result, Maryland’s alcohol sales tax will become the highest in the mid-Atlantic region outside the District. |
In Maryland, for example, officials are raising tens of millions of dollars by raising the sales tax on alcohol, increasing certificate-of-title fees for vehicles and doubling the filing charges for purchasing cars and land. The Maryland General Assembly approved a 50 percent increase on the alcohol sales tax, which will take effect in July and add about 30 cents to every $10 of alcohol purchased.
And though Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett vowed not to raise taxes, county residents would pay more for their property, a nickel for every paper and plastic bag at retail stores, and $64 more annually in water and sewage rates, plus higher Ride On bus fare, as part of his $4.3 billion budget.
“Frankly, they get annoyed with me when I say it’s a tax,” said Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen, D-at large. “People don’t want to be associated with raising taxes, but that’s what they’re doing. Because they’re limited in raising property and income taxes, everyone looks for other ways to raise revenue. You should call a spade a spade and a tax a tax.”
Instead, Floreen said leaders should focus more on long-term fixes than “nickel-and-diming” residents.
Leggett also is pushing for a $13 increase to the annual storm water management fee, and the monthly Ride On bus pass would jump from $30 to $45 countywide. His recommendation also would raise parking rates by 10 cents an hour in Bethesda and Silver Spring, as well as begin charging for Saturday parking in Bethesda.
In D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray’s budget for next fiscal year includes $127.2 million in tax and fee increases, which would fill nearly 40 percent of the District’s $322 million shortfall.
The most-publicized aspect of the plan would raise taxes on households making more than $200,000 annually.
However, the budget blueprint also would increase the parking-garage tax from 12 to 18 percent, off-premise alcohol taxes from 9 to 10 percent and cigarettes would be taxed at the wholesale level
— each measure ultimately would lead to higher prices for consumers. And Circulator bus fare would double to $2.
“I can’t even keep track of all the new fees,” said Chip Harris, a D.C. resident, while parking his car in Northwest on Wednesday. “And I guess that’s why politicians continually do it. You don’t know about the charge until you’re forced to hand the money over.”
The Virginia General Assembly, meanwhile, did not approve any fee increases during the 2011 session; in fact, some fees were actually reduced.
Compared with Maryland and D.C. residents, those in Northern Virginia will experience fewer spikes in fees courtesy of rosier budget forecasts.
“We made a lot of hard decisions at the front end of a recession instead of the back end,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay, D-Lee, highlighting the discrepancy and adding that other area governments spent “like kids at Christmas” whenever excess revenue materialized.
Still, sewer rates will jump from $5.27 to $6.01 per 1,000 gallons, and certain sewage connection charges will skyrocket from $6 per foot to $152.50 per foot. Fees also will increase for zoning paperwork and land development services under the budget to be finalized next week.
Supporters of the fees, however, say local governments were forced to find creative ways to raise money amid a rebounding economy and point out that many of the charges are avoidable.
Maryland Del. John L. Bohanan Jr., D-St. Mary’s, dismissed criticism about charging more for vanity license plates, saying residents would feel the pinch “only if you think it’s very important to ride down the road with a ‘HOT MAMA’ plate.”
