As reported in the Baltimore Sun, the Taxation and Finance Committee of the Baltimore City Council approved $15 million in new taxes during its meeting yesterday. This action and other tax increases already approved (see previous blog) will help the City close a $121 million budget deficit.
The committee voted to increase hotel room taxes, parking rates, an excise tax on billboards and the energy tax for residents, nonprofits and nonindustrial businesses.
The committee delayed action on a proposal to apply the city’s energy tax to industrial businesses, over what its chairwoman, Councilwoman Helen Holton, described as “a technical issue.”
Holton said the proposal to apply the energy tax to industrial businesses, which has drawn opposition from local manufacturers, is still alive and will be presented in the coming days.
