County Executive Ike Leggett is recommending a whopping 9.7% increase in the Rain Tax, er, "Water Quality Protection Charge," for FY-2018. The County has already determined the amount of impervious surface on your property to determine your charge, by looking at an aerial photo. Very scientific.
You'll also pay higher property taxes this year, as rising assessments create an automatic tax increase even when the tax rate doesn't change. And the County Council gets another salary increase, just like Bell, California. The difference is, Bell's Council is in prison, and ours is still free and on-the-take.
Throw the bums out. Or #LockThemUp.
You know, if it was a rain tax, it would be based on how much it rains. You should stop calling it a "rain tax".
ReplyDeleteDyer and his ilk wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they didn't twist reality. He just did it twice in one post: the "rain tax" crap, plus complaining that property taxes are going up. In reality, the property tax RATE is going down for 2017-18; if an individual's property taxes are going up then it means their house has increased in value so much it more than offsets the lower tax rate. Robert, of course, tries to twist that into a bad thing.
DeleteIt is a rain tax, because it is based upon the amount of impervious surface upon which rain falls. If there was no rain, and ergo no runoff, there would be no justification for the tax.
DeleteIt's taxing something that they know the homeowner cannot control. Maybe wind will be next.
1:53: No, there's no cash benefit to home value increasing, unless you are about to sell. Do you want to put in a good word for Barwood cab and the MoCo Department of Liquor Control while you're praising things the majority of residents revile?
"If there was no rain, and ergo no runoff, there would be no justification for the tax."
DeleteExactly. The more impervious surface on a property, the higher the strain on the sewer system and the greater the need for environmental remediation. Obviously someone who paves over their yard should pay more towards those public expenses than someone who doesn't.
The "majority of residents revile" their MoCo property increasing in value? Do you even think before typing, Robert?
Delete"It's taxing something that they know the homeowner cannot control."
DeleteActually, it's taxing the amount of impervious area, over which the homeowner has quite a bit of control.
These funds will help improve County streams like Sligo Creek and Rock Creek, as well as downstream in the Anacostia River, Potomac River, and the Chesapeake Bay. Stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces creates problems for nearby waterways through erosion and exposing and breaking adjacent sewer lines.
ReplyDelete