Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) and other elected officials are openly and actively pushing tax and fee increases, as well as new taxes and fees, through the General Assembly in Annapolis at the moment. Their justification for hitting already-overtaxed taxpayers in the wallet is that, well, the state is broke and has no money. Someone forgot to tell the Maryland Transit Administration, which is promoting the $7.2 billion Baltimore Red Line light rail boondoggle as if it is fully funded in a newsletter emailed out late last week.
"We've set ambitious goals for 2025," the project's director declares in the opening sentence, even as the state is at this very moment facing a nearly $3 billion shortfall. "Aerial survey mapping" is underway, and soil "field surface investigations" are scheduled to begin "soon." Meanwhile, a $457 million cut to developmental disabilities programs is under consideration, as are the elimination of itemized tax deductions, the addition of a new tax that would raise the cost of "sugary drink" 12-packs by several dollars, and the creation of a 75-cent fee on all Amazon retail and DoorDash/Uber Eats-style food deliveries.
The similar Purple Line light rail project in Montgomery and Prince George's counties has been a fiscal disaster. It is about a decade behind schedule, and has been mismanaged from the beginning. The potential ridership for it remains an open question, and any shortfall in its budget once service begins will be filled by taking money from other transit priorities. Red Line advocates - largely real estate developers, and radical war-on-cars extremists still terrified that I-70 might one day connect to downtown Baltimore like it was supposed to - have subsisted on champagne wishes and caviar dreams for 15 years. Pour another glass, and LARP along with the MTA on a project that redefines pie-in-the-sky, by and by.
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