Rascovar: Want to Improve Water Quality? You Have to Pay the Price

The addition of the stormwater management fee that appeared on property tax bills around Baltimore County earlier this month may be unpopular but it is necessary.
So says long-time political columnist Barry Rascovar.

"This is overdue recognition that stormwater pouring from roofs and parking pads pollutes the Chesapeake Bay, promotes flooding and soil erosion and leads to drinking water contamination," Rascovar writes on his blog. "Embarking on fixes takes money."

The Baltimore County Council passed the law, which is mandated by state and federal government, earlier this year. The fee is added to county property tax bills.

Residential property owners pay a flat fee. 

The bulk of the $23 million county officials expect to collect will come from commercial and nonprofit properties—about 20 percent of the estimated 283,000 county properties.

Some business owners have complained that the fee will harm their businesses.

Sen. Ed Kasemeyer, a Democrat who represents Arbutus and Catonsville, said earlier this year he believes the General Assembly will revisit the fee and its effects on business and nonprofits when the General Assembly reconvenes in January.

Del. Pat McDonough, a Middle River Republican, believes anger over the tax is growing and is vowing to fight the law.

Rascovar, in his blog, writes that McDonough "has as much chance of succeeding as stopping the rain from falling on roofs and other impervious surfaces."