Daniel Leaderman
New, local stormwater management fees are set to take effect in
several jurisdictions July 1, but some state lawmakers want to revisit
those charges, which might be bigger than anticipated.
“Sometimes we do things that we have to go back and look at [again],”
said Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village. “This could
be one of them.”
A law passed by the Maryland General Assembly in the final hours of
the 2012 regular session — dubbed the “rain tax” by critics — required
nine counties and Baltimore city to adopt stormwater management fees.
Those areas are subject to federal regulations for large jurisdictions.
Property owners will be charged based on the amount of impervious
surface, such as pavement, but the local governments set their own fees.
Lawmakers are particularly concerned about the impact on businesses
and on nonprofit organizations such as churches, but homeowners
associations also would be vulnerable, King said, adding that she would
be “more than happy” to revisit the issue in the future.
Read full story here from Gazette.net
No comments:
Post a Comment