Taxes, Fees, and Tolls, Oh My!
By Amy Waychoff
The Maryland House and Senate are busy finalizing the budget (with an April 1 deadline), and the bottom line for Maryland consumers is that taxes, fees, and tolls will dramatically increase. Under the proposed budget (SB 360 and SB 362), revenues of $576 million will be generated in FY 2025 by, among other means,
- raising vehicle registration fees
- increasing the vehicle excise tax
- assessing fees for Uber and Lyft
- collecting an annual registration surcharge from owners of zero-emission and hybrid vehicles
After passing both houses, but with amendments, the budget bills are back in the Senate, so please email your Maryland state senators in opposition to the budget. (If you would like to email all the senators, please email Amy Waychoff, [email protected], for a complete list.)
In addition, HB 1070, the Maryland Toll Rate Reform Act of 2024, threatens to give government agencies unlimited authority to raise tolls. While the bill has been extensively revised, in its original version it was estimated that tolls could increase by “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
This bill passed the House, so please send emails in opposition to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, which will be hearing it on Tuesday, March 26:
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Amy Waychoff is a Member of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee and Chair of the Legislation Tracking Task Force.