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Taxes and Fees

Why Maryland Counties Can’t Create New Taxes on Their Own

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The county leaders who testified at Monday's revenue task force hearing were asking the...

Michael Phillips
September 16, 2026

The Council Eliminated a Broad $692 Homeowner Credit. Now It Wants Three Targeted Ones.

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ROCKVILLE — Roughly four months after voting to zero out a property tax credit available...

Michael Phillips
September 15, 2026

The Delegate Whose Own Business Fled the Tax Won’t Be Around to Revisit It

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews LEONARDTOWN — This week's news that Maryland's IT services tax collected 77% less than...

Michael Phillips
September 3, 2026

Maryland’s New Tech Tax Brought In 77% Less Than Promised. Business Groups Want It Gone.

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ANNAPOLIS — Maryland's new tax on business IT and data services closed its first full...

Michael Phillips
September 3, 2026

Maryland Ranks 7th Nationally for Lifetime Tax Burden, New Study Finds

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A Marylander who works 45 years and lives to the average life expectancy will hand over...

Michael Phillips
August 28, 2026

Maryland’s Next Payroll Tax Is Coming in 2027 — A Year Before Benefits Begin

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland workers and businesses have another mandatory cost coming, and it will show up...

Michael Phillips
August 25, 2026

Moore Says Families Shouldn’t Go Into Debt for Back-to-School. His Own Tax Holiday Doesn’t Cover the Supply List.

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Gov. Wes Moore used his personal X account Monday to tell Maryland families that...

Michael Phillips
August 17, 2026

Maryland’s Digital Ad Tax Just Got Thrown Out. Here’s What Happens to the Money.

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland's first-in-the-nation tax on digital advertising is dead, at least for now, and...

Michael Phillips
August 14, 2026

The $4,000 “Crisis” Is Mostly Sandwiches. The Real Maryland Affordability Story Is in Annapolis.

By Michael Phillips | Maryland Bay News The Maryland Democratic Party wants you to believe Donald Trump personally raised...

Michael Phillips
August 6, 2026

Power Over People: How Annapolis Rewrote the Rules — and What It Ignored to Do It

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Maryland General Assembly closed its three-day special session Tuesday night having...

Michael Phillips
August 5, 2026

What Maryland Actually Gets — and Gives Up — By Saying No to Data Centers

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews National coverage of the data center backlash tends to run one of two ways: either data...

Michael Phillips
July 23, 2026

A Government Chosen By 5 Percent Is Taxing The Other 95

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Montgomery County's property tax bills have been landing in mailboxes for two weeks, and...

Michael Phillips
July 16, 2026

Maryland’s Hidden Bill: A Supreme Court Ruling Just Told Annapolis to Find the Money It Never Set Aside

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland's Supreme Court handed the state a win on June 23 — and used the occasion to...

Michael Phillips
July 13, 2026

Who Pays for the Data Center Boom? In Maryland, the Answer Is Already You.

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The question was never whether Maryland wanted data centers. The state answered that years...

Michael Phillips
May 31, 2026

Six Figures, Still Struggling: Maryland Ranks Third in Nation for Eroding Middle-Class Purchasing Power

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A household earning $100,000 a year in Maryland is now classified as lower-middle class...

Michael Phillips
May 14, 2026

Moore’s Taxpayer-Funded Spokesman Attacks Journalist While Governor Spends $120K on Social Media Influencer Director

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ANNAPOLIS — When a journalist asks Maryland's governor uncomfortable questions, there are...

Michael Phillips
April 8, 2026

Moore Had the Power to Cut Your Gas Bill. He Chose Not To.

By MDBayNews Staff Maryland drivers are paying 46 cents per gallon in state gas taxes — the eighth-highest rate in the...

Staff Writer
April 8, 2026

Maryland Democrats Bash Trump’s Jobs Report While Ignoring the Economic Mess in Their Own Backyard

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland Democrats never miss a chance to seize on a weak national headline and turn it...

Michael Phillips
March 8, 2026

Maryland Senate Republicans Move to Roll Back Vehicle Registration Fee Hikes

By MDBayNews Staff ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland Senate Republicans are pushing new legislation aimed at reversing steep...

Staff Writer
March 6, 2026

Montgomery County’s FY26 Budget: No Tax Hike — But Higher Bills Anyway

By MDBayNews Staff Montgomery County leaders are touting their Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget as a model of fiscal...

Staff Writer
March 3, 2026

Governor Moore Demands Tariff Reimbursement — Maryland Families Demand $5,000 Back

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Governor Wes Moore has joined Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck Davis in...

Michael Phillips
February 27, 2026

MVA Fee Hikes Hit Maryland Families Hard: Safety Measure or Cash Grab?

By MDBayNews Staff Maryland families are once again feeling the squeeze — this time at the Motor Vehicle Administration....

Staff Writer
February 19, 2026

Maryland Counties to Annapolis: Trust Us With Our Own Tax Policy

By MDBayNews Staff As the 2026 session of the Maryland General Assembly unfolds, a familiar tension has resurfaced in...

Michael Phillips
February 19, 2026

Maryland Bans 287(g) — But Sheriffs Aren’t Backing Down. Now Comes the Legal War.

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland is about to test the limits of federalism — and taxpayers may be the ones...

Michael Phillips
February 15, 2026

Grammer Slams HB 55 as “Extortion Cameras.” Supporters Call It Public Safety.

By MDBayNews Staff Robin Grammer is not mincing words. In a sharply worded social media post this week, the Baltimore...

Michael Phillips
February 15, 2026

Another Billion in Borrowing: Annapolis Expands MDTA Debt as Toll Hikes Loom

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews In a move that received far less public attention than it deserves, the Maryland General...

Michael Phillips
February 14, 2026

Maryland Ranks 46th for Taxpayers — And the Reasons Are Structural, Not Accidental

By MDBayNews Staff Maryland has landed 46th out of 50 in the Tax Foundation’s latest State Business Tax Climate Index,...

Michael Phillips
February 5, 2026

Montgomery County Fast-Tracks ‘Trust Act’ as Residents Question Costs, Priorities, and Process

By MDBayNews Staff Montgomery County is racing to pass Expedited Bill 35-25, branded by its sponsors as the Promoting...

Michael Phillips
February 5, 2026

House Overturns D.C. Tax Changes, Escalating Fight Over Federal Tax Relief and Home Rule

By MDBayNews Staff Washington, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to overturn a District of Columbia...

Michael Phillips
February 5, 2026

Moore’s ‘National Harbor Sphere’ Tax Is a Shiny Distraction From Maryland’s Real Budget Problems

By MDBayNews Staff Governor Wes Moore is selling Marylanders a familiar Annapolis product: a flashy, headline-friendly tax...

Michael Phillips
February 2, 2026

Maryland’s Latest Crackdown Targets Drivers—Not the Real Problems

By MDBayNews Staff Maryland lawmakers are once again aiming their fire at the wrong target. A newly proposed bill would...

Michael Phillips
January 30, 2026

Maryland Comptroller Warns Lawmakers: Major Income Tax Changes Risk System Failure in 2026

By MDBayNews Staff Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman delivered an unusually blunt message to lawmakers this week: the...

Michael Phillips
January 21, 2026

Montgomery County Expands Green Bank Role With Climate Resiliency Bill

By MDBayNews Staff ROCKVILLE, Md. — Montgomery County Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke, Andrew Friedson, and Evan Glass on...

Michael Phillips
January 21, 2026

Moore’s FY 2027 Budget Avoids Tax Hikes — But Relies on Quiet Cuts, Shifts, and Delays

By MDBayNews Staff Governor Wes Moore, on January 21st, released his proposed Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget, a...

Michael Phillips
January 21, 2026

Governor Moore’s FY 2027 Budget Balances the Books—But at What Cost?

By MDBayNews Staff Governor Wes Moore on Tuesday released his proposed Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget, a nearly $70.8...

Michael Phillips
January 21, 2026

Maryland’s Giant Golf Ball: What’s Being Overlooked in the Rush to Celebrate the Sphere

By MdBayNews Editorial Board Maryland officials are celebrating the arrival of the Sphere at National Harbor as a marquee...

Michael Phillips
January 21, 2026

DECADE Act or Déjà Vu? Wes Moore’s Business Plan Revives Incentives—but Avoids Real Reform

By Michael Phillips | Maryland Bay News Maryland Gov. Wes Moore this week rolled out the DECADE Act of 2026—short for...

Michael Phillips
January 10, 2026

Is Maryland’s Vehicle Emissions Testing Program Past Its Prime?

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews For decades, Maryland drivers in select counties and Baltimore City have been required to...

Michael Phillips
January 7, 2026

Federal Downsizing Exposes Montgomery County’s Reliance on Washington

By Michael Phillips | Maryland Bay News Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich is blunt about what he believes defined...

Michael Phillips
December 26, 2025

Can Maryland Afford a 3% Flat Tax?

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Annapolis Watch By the time any major tax proposal reaches a hearing room in Annapolis,...

Michael Phillips
December 23, 2025

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