The Anne Arundel County Council has offered a counterproposal to a massive set of increases to impact fees on new development proposed by County Executive John R. Leopold: raise the transfer tax rate to generate millions of dollars toward school construction and maintenance and reversing the effects of storm-water runoff.
On Monday, the Republican-majority council unanimously agreed to support a resolution that seeks state-enabling legislation to raise the transfer tax on property sales from 1 percent to as high as 1.5 percent.
The resolution's sponsor, Republican C. Edward Middlebrooks, said the initiative could raise $25 million a year for the building and repairing of schools and restoring of streams. He estimated that about $18 million would go toward schools and $7 million toward cleaning up watersheds and waterways damaged by runoff.
That approach differs from Leopold's plan to raise impact fees as much as twelvefold on homes, stores, warehouses, marinas, hospitals, hotels and other projects. County officials estimate the new impact fees would raise $22.2 million a year - compared to the $7.4 million now generated annually.
Fees applied on homes are typically passed on to the homebuyer. Revenues generated from impact fees can only be directed toward the building of new schools, roads and other county facilities that would be affected by new development.
Del. Mary Ann Love, the chair of the county's House delegation and a Democrat, said yesterday she would introduce legislation at the council's request - even though the initiative was denounced by Leopold.
Several state lawmakers were either noncommittal or opposed to the council's request.
"If there's not support from both the County Council and the county executive, I don't see a will over here to entertain that increase," said Sen. James E. DeGrange, a Democrat.
The transfer tax is applied to the sale of property. Only two jurisdictions apply the maximum rate of 1.5 percent: Baltimore County and Baltimore City. For homes, the tax is typically split by the buyer and seller.
Middlebrooks, a Severn Republican, said raising the transfer tax could do more than impact fees to address the county's school maintenance backlog, which exceeds $1.5 billion. Forty-two of the county's 117 schools are operating at or beyond their recommended life span of 40 years, according to school system figures.
Middlebrooks argued that raising impact fees will do nothing to fix schools in established communities such as Glen Burnie, Severna Park and Brooklyn Park.
"To only build schools in West County and leave schools in North County behind - that's not fair," he said.
Leopold, a Republican, voiced his opposition to the resolution, which was introduced Monday. He said he was not consulted by the council members and accused them of trying to protect developers.
About 90 percent of home sales in Anne Arundel in 2006 were for existing property, according to county figures. The county executive said the transfer tax would have a disproportionate impact on established residents.
"I view it as an attempt to have the county taxpayers subsidize developers," he said,
Leopold predicted there would be "stiff resistance" at the State House, given the steep tax increases passed by state lawmakers late last year in a special session.
Del. James J. King, a Republican, said the council is seeking to use a transfer tax rate increase "as a bargaining tool" within the debate of increased impact fees. "It's a very dangerous game to be talking about raising taxes 50 percent on homeowners," he said.
phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com