The article by Pamela Wood on "rolling back the rain tax" ("Counties reconsider stormwater fees," Jan. 25) only adds to my confusion about how the whole state of Maryland continues to be in an uproar over the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act mandating reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. According to this article, the action taken in response to this mandate by the state legislature was to ask only the largest nine counties and the City of Baltimore to contribute funds to this effort since the livelihood of their residents was closely aligned to the health of the bay. A closer reading of this article reveals that "the amount of the fees was left to each county to decide" and Frederick County chose to pay "a penny a year for stormwater fees," Carroll County chose "to pay nothing, and Harford County "repealed its stormwater fee" of $12.50 per year.
So, do we assume that these counties have their head in the sand and are simply ignoring the mandate or have they found the small amount of money required by this mandate in other parts of the budget leading their constituents to believe that they are not being taxed at all for this cleanup effort? And, are other counties now playing the game too — with Baltimore County touting its proposed one-third cut in the fee from $39 to $26, saving each resident a whopping $13, and Howard County jumping in by asking its staff to consider options for reducing the burden of $15-$90 per year, but still taking a wait-and-see attitude because the "mandate from the state may change"?
Gov. Larry Hogan most likely understands that the mandate comes from the federal government and is not likely to change. It will have to be dealt with. It might have been good politics to use the statewide frenzy over "increased taxes" to help get elected, but it's time for him step up and deal honestly with this issue. The legislators will probably waste time debating the repeal of the Stormwater Remediation Fee, but, ultimately they will need to consider how they will meet the federal requirements. The governor now needs to demonstrate his real political skills as a state-wide leader and get this job done with honesty and fairness for all of the taxpayers — let's forget the smoke and mirrors of this issue and lets deal with real facts this time around.
Robert Jervis, Pasadena