On Monday, March 7th, 2016, the Howard County Council voted down a proposal introduced by the Kittleman Administration, and co-sponsored by County Council member Greg Fox, that would have phased out over two years the Watershed Protection and Restoration Fee, commonly known as the Rain Tax. The vote was split along party lines.
In its report, the Howard County Times quoted County Executive Allan Kittleman who called the council’s action a “disappointment” and went on to say, “the big losers tonight are residents and businesses….We’ll find out what the next council will do in 2018.”
At a January council hearing, a senior Kittleman Administration official testified saying collection of the stormwater remediation fee was unnecessary because the county already had enough money in budget to meet existing state and federal requirements. In 2015, the Hogan Administration and the Maryland General Assembly gave county leaders the ability to fund stormwater remediation through other funding sources.
Had the Kittleman proposal passed, Howard would have joined Harford, Baltimore and other jurisdictions to do away with the Rain Tax.
To read the Howard County Times’ report, click here.
The post Howard County Council Votes Rain Tax Repeal Down 4-1 appeared first on Allan Kittleman for Howard County Executive.