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St. Mary’s County commissioner opposes House Bill 1370, cites new regional taxes and state funding concerns
Summary
A St. Mary's County commissioner told the board a request to support House Bill 1370 raised concerns that the bill would create three transportation regions with new local tax authority, shift state responsibilities, and complicate local priorities such as bridge funding and a Route 5/242 signal project.
A St. Mary's County commissioner told the county meeting that they would not support signing a letter of support for House Bill 1370, saying the bill would create three transportation regions in Maryland and give them new taxing powers.
The commissioner said the bill would create “three different transportation regions in the state,” and warned it would allow regions to raise new taxes to fund highway projects. “For the taxes, it would be a 1% increase on hotels, 0.5% increase in local sales, [and] .15% under transfer tax,” the commissioner said, reading the bill’s provisions as presented to the county.
The commissioner framed the bill as a form of state abdication of responsibility for transportation projects: if regions can tax locally to pay for projects, the county could be asked to shoulder costs the state historically funded. That, the commissioner said, could divert local funds from other county services.
The commissioner also discussed how the bill could affect regional projects and priorities. They contrasted a county priority — a replacement bridge many residents use — with longer light-rail extensions proposed for parts of Charles County, saying such rail projects would likely produce lower ridership and be “too cumbersome” for typical commuters transferring at Branch Avenue Metro. The commissioner argued the state should prioritize projects the county “desperately” needs over longer, more complex rail expansions.
The remarks also raised separate concerns about state communication and project tracking. The commissioner said they had sent a letter on Jan. 31 to the county’s Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) representative asking for an update on the traffic signal at Route 5 and Route 242 in Morganza. “I have yet to receive a response from MDOT,” the commissioner said, noting limited progress on state-to-county communications despite the governor’s recent hires.
On state budgeting, the commissioner criticized what they called the General Assembly’s insistence on continued “blueprint” funding and additional grants layered on top of it. They urged state leaders to prioritize fiscal responsibility and suggested reallocating non–public-safety grant dollars back into the state budget rather than layering new mandates on local governments.
No formal vote or official county action on House Bill 1370 or the request for a letter of support was recorded in the transcript of the remarks. The commissioner said they had told county counsel there was no way they could support the request; the transcript does not record a board vote on the letter request or a final county position.
