Politics & Government

Poll: Are You Taxed Too Much?

Or is it just enough?

Maryland residents might be paying higher income taxes if a Senate budget committee compromise on how to help close the state's $1.1 billion deficit is approved.

Under this plan, income taxes would rise and a shift of pension costs to local governments would be phased in over four years, rather than one, according to CBS News Money Watch.

Local government leaders—including fellow Democrats—have spoken out against Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to shift teacher pension costs to counties, as the state searches for ways to defray costs.

Find out what's happening in Eldersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We all want our teachers to be paid what they deserve, but the state forgot to fund it," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman Now that the state doesn't think they can afford it, rather than make the tough decisions at the state level to pay for it, they're sending the bill to counties."

That proposal would have combined the pension and Social Security costs and then split the total 50-50 with local governments.

Find out what's happening in Eldersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the compromise recently passed by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, most Maryland taxpayers would see income tax increases, as opposed to a previous proposal by O’Malley, which raised taxes for the top 20 percent of earners, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Howard County blogger Tom Coale noted the lack of uproar over the proposed increase.

“If this were Virginia, or even Pennsylvania, I think we could presume that legislators would be terrified to vote for an income tax increase for fear of finding themselves back among the citizenry,”Coale wrote. “In Maryland, we're boiling frogs. As long as it is slow and those tax increases are spread out amongst enough 'pressure points' (i.e., pay stub, gas pump, toll roads), we're good.”

Meanwhile, O’Malley is also making a push this week to apply a 6 percent sales tax toward gas, which would go towards unfinished road projects.

Coale, the blogger, recalled a recent survey he saw asking people their perceptions on how much they were taxed. Take a similar poll below.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Eldersburg