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Commissioner says Southern Maryland delegation expressed frustration with Annapolis, criticizes proposed 3% IT services tax
Summary
An unnamed commissioner reported that the Southern Maryland delegation told attendees at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast that this year’s work in Annapolis was frustrating, and criticized a proposed 3% IT services tax that the commissioner said exempted the sponsors' own districts, including the University of Maryland.
An unnamed commissioner at a St. Mary's County Commissioners meeting said members of the Southern Maryland delegation told a recent Chamber of Commerce breakfast that they were frustrated with this year’s legislative session in Annapolis and plan to return in October to continue work.
The commissioner criticized a proposed 3% IT services tax discussed in Annapolis, saying sponsors exempted the area they represent — an area that the commissioner identified as including the University of Maryland. He said that selective exemptions produced a fairness problem and criticized the legislative process that allowed them.
“You sit up there and you listen to that and everybody thinks it's gonna be terrible and it is because it's a tax,” the commissioner said. He added, “If you're gonna put a tax for IT on anybody, you'd put them on everybody,” and later said of the process, “it just doesn't make sense.”
The commissioner said the delegation was returning in October to continue efforts in the legislature and that county commissioners would hold a public hearing that evening at Leonardtown High School. He did not specify which bills the delegation prioritized beyond the IT services tax discussion.
These remarks were delivered during the commissioner’s report; the transcript records no formal action by the board related to the proposed tax or any state legislation.
The commissioner also noted plans to attend a ribbon-cutting for upgrades at the county 9-1-1 center later that day, but provided no technical details about the upgrades in the meeting record.
