Maryland cities and counties want more power to raise taxes and fees

Tinashe Chingarande, The Baltimore Sun on Sep 14, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Maryland mayors and county executives are seeking more authority to raise taxes and fees without state approval, while business groups warn that higher costs could reduce consumer spending and economic growth.

A state task force studying how counties and municipalities can raise more revenue met Monday, with local officials arguing that their governments need more tools to pay for services and infrastructure. Business groups, in written testimony, opposed giving local governments broader authority to impose or increase taxes and fees.

The task force will make recommendations to the governor, but any changes to state tax law would require action by the General Assembly. The discussion comes as counties and municipalities face rising costs for services including education and infrastructure. Maryland lawmakers are also considering raising state taxes to address projected budget shortfalls.

County executives and mayors at Monday’s virtual meeting said the state’s shifting or increasing responsibilities for local governments are adding to their costs. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, for example, proposed allowing the city to impose a local sales tax, which the city currently does not have.

“The City of Baltimore does not have the full range of revenue tools available to address the demands placed upon it,” Scott said Monday, noting that Baltimore is an independent city without county funding to help it cover transport infrastructure projects.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich urged state lawmakers not to use local tax authority “as an exercise to shift additional costs to us.”

“New revenue needs to be used to help us build and grow, not just tread water. And if revenue simply covers cost shifts, then we will continue to fail to build the infrastructure that we need in order to be competitive,” Elrich said during the meeting.

Business groups also raised concerns about the potential impact on consumers and businesses. In a letter to the task force last Thursday, Maryland Realtors said local governments should be required to provide tax relief if they increase fees associated with buying property.

“A homeowner who needs to move for a growing family, job change, retirement, or other circumstances may reconsider a sale when transaction costs become too high,” the group wrote. “That reduces the supply of homes available to other buyers, especially when combined with the current ‘lock-in’ effect of mortgage interest rates.”

The “Task Force to Modernize County and Municipal Revenue Structures,” chaired by Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, was created through legislation in April to evaluate how counties and municipalities generate revenue and whether their existing authority is sufficient to meet their needs.

Under Maryland law, local authorities can only increase property taxes independently. The task force is mandated to make recommendations by Dec. 1 to the governor and the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee as well as the House Appropriations and Ways and Means committees.

Local leaders have long pushed for greater control over revenue. The Annapolis City Council in March voted unanimously to support the state task force, as councilmembers called for the city to diversify its revenue beyond property taxes. Defending local tax authority, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman pointed to a 2022 law that allowed counties to increase income tax rates based on income levels that generated “some real revenue.”

Still, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association warned that higher costs could push wireless providers to spend less in Maryland, potentially driving up household internet costs.

“An additional or higher local property tax on telecommunications infrastructure is also misaligned with Maryland’s broadband expansion and reliable connectivity priorities,” Annissa Reed, CTIA’s state and local affairs director, wrote in a letter to the task force. “Tax policies that increase the cost of network deployment work against those objectives and affect the infrastructure that supports economic development, education, telehealth, remote work, access to government services, and public safety communications.”

________