Kudos to Maryland on My Mind (MOMM) for noticing that the Department of Legislative Services has released its analysis of the impact of the budget bills. Leaving aside the impact of the "sin" taxes on cigarettes and slots, the impact of the other taxes falls primarily on the wealthy:
The net result of the income tax, sales tax and titling tax changes: The $40,000 family pays $7 more per year; the $75,000 family pays $45 more per year; and the $150,000 family pays $196 more. Relatively modest increases. The analysis offers only one example for higher income families. A family earning $750,000 would pay more on all three taxes, totaling $3,613 more a year.MOMM nonetheless concludes that the overall package is too regressive once one includes the sin taxes. On the other hand, Montgomery did much better than other major jurisdictions in terms of the fiscal impact of the budget:
For major jurisdictions: Anne Arundel County, $43 per capita loss; Baltimore City, $48 per capita loss; Baltimore County, $39 per capita loss; Howard County, $33 per capita loss; Montgomery County, $17 per capita loss; Prince Georges County, $58 per capita loss. Montgomery County came out quite well.Perhaps this explains Blair Lee, who has long criticized the delegation for failing to fight for Montgomery, gave some grudging credit to the delegation in his latest Gazette column.
