Last week, the Maryland Association of the Boards of Education (MABE) and the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) sent a join letter to the Maryland Congressional Delegation urging them to defend the tax-exemption on municipal bond interest.
The tax exemption on municipal bond interest is integral to local government funding for school construction and eliminating or capping the tax exemption has been raised by the Obama Administration and members of Congress interested in comprehensive tax reform.
As described in the MABE and MACo joint letter,
Maryland prides itself on its commitment to education and makes a significant investment of state and county dollars in school construction. Costs of school construction are a shared county and state responsibility, with Maryland counties paying a share of total school construction costs, and taking exclusive responsibility for site acquisition, architectural and engineering fees, utility connections, permits, furniture, and equipment.
In the past five years, the State has provided over $1.6 billion in school construction funding, and counties have made significant investments in local school projects. The continuation of a high level of funding has allowed the school systems to proceed with a large number of major projects and according to Maryland’s Public School Construction Program Director, there is no question that if a similar allocation is made next year, the funds will be fully utilized by the local educational agencies to meet pressing K-12 facility needs.
For more information, see the full letter from MABE and MACo and our recent posts on Conduit Street:
NACo: Counties Can Prepare for Municipal Bond Debate
Will Municipal Bonds Survive Tax Reform?
NACo Report Provides Estimated Impact of Capping or Repealing Tax-Exempt Status of Municipal Bonds
Ruppersberger Takes Lead on Municipal Bonds Issue
