Tax ‘myths’ and light rail ‘successes’
I’ve read the May 22 letter from the director and deputy director of the Charles County Economic Development office talking about “tax myths” and yet another Gary Hodge letter touting light rail. Both letters omit important context.
For well over a decade, Charles County’s residential real property tax rate of 1.205 was the highest of any Maryland county. The real myth, contrary to Darrell Brown and Marcia Keeth’s assertions, was the belief, still held by many residents, that we actually had low taxes.
Our high tax rates were publicized by county Republicans in the run-up to the 2014 elections. I am proud to have been part of that effort. We, in turn, had context for our assertions, including a 2014 Gallup poll indicating that 47% of Maryland residents would leave the state if they could, with high taxes cited as a “uniquely important factor.”
So Maryland is not popular with 47% of our residents partly due to high taxes, and Charles County was the highest taxed county within a high tax state. Unless you think high taxes are good for the economy, business formation and growth, then this fact was important and deserved to be widely publicized.
So, now Brown and Keeth say it’s a myth and is supposedly no longer true. Did we lower our tax rates? No. One measly county raised theirs — that’s all. Now we only have the second highest property tax out of 23 counties. Brown and Keeth say this busts the “myth.” Their sleight-of-hand on assessments and proximity to D.C. is dishonest. Higher home values in other counties don’t justify high rates in Charles.
Their letter exposes the economic ignorance of our county government. Brown and Keeth talk about “value propositions” when they “market”
Charles County to businesses. What businesses? Businesses already located in other jurisdictions that they want to poach. What are they doing to reduce the burden on existing businesses and residents in the county? Nothing.
Does the county really believe businesses care about their “value proposition” propaganda? I don’t know, but it’s clear that rather than lower taxes and reduce burdens on businesses and residents, they’d rather spend taxpayer money on ineffectual salesmen.
As to Mr. Hodge and his light rail white whale quest, again, we need context. Mass transit systems are losing riders across the country, despite desperate attempts to prop them up. In D.C., firms with over 50 workers must subsidize mass transit. Circulator buses are free now. The H Street trolley is also free, after a cost of over $200 million to build. The D.C. council is poised to decriminalize fare evasion on Metro.
This is in the middle of a booming D.C. economy. The same is true for other booming cities. Even the vaunted
New York subway has lost riders over the last 4 years. Is Mr. Hodge concerned? Not a bit, since he scoured the bushes to find a couple of systems he could tout as thriving. Naturally suspicious, I checked his success stories.
The Phoenix system is under fire, with a referendum coming to halt expansion, and the Norfolk system — plagued by tens of millions in cost overruns — was the subject of a study by the Cleveland Fed entitled “Is the Light Rail ‘Tide’ Lifting Property Values? Evidence from Hampton Roads, Virginia.”
They found that the system has actually depressed property values, and further noted that “The Tide” was the worst performing light rail system of 31 studied by Brookings in terms of finances and ridership.
If that is what Mr. Hodge considers a successful system, then I cannot trust his recommendations for Charles County.
Thomas deSabla, Indian Head