'Anger is Growing,' Says GOP's McDonough, Vows to Stop Rain Tax

By Bryan P. Sears

Republican Delegate Pat McDonough is hoping public pressure, and maybe a lawsuit, will convince his colleagues in the Maryland General Assembly to abolish the so-called rain tax.

McDonough announced over the weekend the creation of the “Stop the Rain Tax Campaign” aimed at drumming up public pressure on state legislators to overturn the stormwater management fee. 

“It’s a simple idea,” McDonough, a Middle River Republican, said. “We’re going to target the legislators. Anger is growing. The general public objection is that they’re over-taxed and it’s stupid, unfair and unnecessary and they’re right about that.”

McDonough said the public pressure is aimed at bringing about the repeal in a move similar to what occurred in 2008 with the tax on computer services.

In 2007, the General Assembly passed a bill applying a 6 percent sales tax to a variety of computer services including installation and maintenance. Business leaders in the industry banded together to pressure the legislature to repeal the tax in 2008.

McDonough said he believes some legislators are starting to feel the pressure on the stormwater management fee.

While not acknowledging public pressure, some legislators say the General Assembly will likely revisit the issue in 2014—months before a primary election.

In May, Sen. Ed Kasemeyer, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, told a group of Howard County business leaders that legislators would likely revisit the issue in the session that begins in January.

"I think it's not over yet," Kasemeyer said during a meeting with the Howard County Chamber of Commerce.

Kasemeyer represents a district that includes Arbutus and Catonsville and part of Howard County.

Homeowners in the county began receiving property tax bills over the weekend with the new annual fee—$21 for townhome residents and $39 for owners of single-family homes.

Nonprofits and commercial businesses will pay more—$20 and $69 respectively for every 2,000 square feet of impervious surface.

The fee is part of a 2012 state law mandating that 10 jurisdictions reduce pollutants such as phosphorus and sediment that enter into the bay as a result of stormwater run off. State legislators point out that they were forced to create mandate because of requirements from the federal government.

Each jurisdiction is handling the fee differently, ranging from a flat fee imposed by Baltimore County to other formulas that base the fee on the amount of concrete, rooftops and other impervious surfaces present at a home or business.

In addition to public pressure, McDonough said he is “exploring the possibility of a lawsuit” that could overturn the fee.

“Obviously, that is more complicated and will take more time than organizing people to protest [the stormwater management fee],” McDonough said.

The Republican legislator said he believes there is precedent for such a lawsuit. 

Earlier this year, Virginia officials successfully sued the Environmental Protection Agency over imposed restrictions on stormwater flowing into Accotink Creek.

The federal agency sought to control the amount of sediment entering the creek. Virginia officials sued saying the agency did not have the power to regulate stormwater and a federal judge agreed, according to a report by the Huffington Post.