Cumberland —
It’s an idea that State Sen. George Edwards calls “crazy.” He’s referring to the possibility of an 80 percent increase in the so-called ‘flush tax” to help restore the Chesapeake Bay.
The flush tax has perhaps been most harshly criticized in Garrett County, where residents feel they do not contribute to pollution of the bay and so they should not have to pay for the restoration. Half of the county’s drainage feeds the Gulf of Mexico rather than the Chesapeake Bay.
Now, the state’s Capital Debt Affordability Committee is considering an option to increase the annual tax from $30 per household to $54. The increase would make up for a $660 million shortfall in the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund to clean up Maryland’s wastewater treatment plants.
The cleanup of nitrogen and other chemicals flowing into the Bay that create “dead zones” on the bottom is estimated to cost $1.5 billion. That’s $660 million more than is generated by the annual “Bay Restoration fee” on every household and septic system.
The principal cause of the shortfall in funds to upgrade sewage treatment plants is the cost of the two largest projects and the two largest sources of nutrients to the Bay — the Back River plant in Baltimore County and the Blue Plains plant in D.C. that services suburban Washington.
Edwards told the Times-News last week: “I’ve heard talk about an increase off and on, but this is the first time I’ve heard a number. I think it’s crazy.”
We like Edwards’ alternative to increasing the flush tax. Extend the deadline to improve the water treatment plants, thus taking pressure off the state to have to pay for all of the work immediately.
We urge the state to consider such an extension.
Opinion
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Flush tax
Edwards: Proposed increase ‘crazy’ idea
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