Thursday, November 06, 2008

Maryland Tax Burdens

On discovery of the news that an anti-tax ballot measure is leading -- but apparently not definitively resolved -- in liberal Montgomery County, I recalled a study I saw recently which found Maryland's state and local tax burden the fourth highest in the country. The study determines that Marylanders pay 10.8% of their total income in state and local taxes. Maybe county and state officials should not be as surprised as they seem to be that one of Robin Ficker's tax limitation proposals has garnered so much support.

The Montgomery County anti-tax measure would amend the county charter to require that all nine Council members, rather than the current seven, vote to exceed the established property tax limit. The Washington Post article on the ballot measure is here. If you want to see which states had a higher state and local tax burden than Maryland, the Tax Foundation study is here.