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Dan Morse writes:

Last year’s murder of a Montgomery County woman at the hands of a violent offender who served barely half his original sentence has inspired Maryland lawmakers to rethink the “good time” provisions that helped set him free.

On Wednesday, when a state Senate committee is set to weigh legislation that could lengthen prison terms, victims’ advocates will raise the case of Shawn Henderson, who left prison in April 2006, about six years after slashing the throats of two people he robbed in Gaithersburg. Those people survived. In April 2008, he fatally shot Lindsay Harvey and left with $40.

“She should still be alive, without question,” Montgomery County Police Capt. Mitch Cunningham said of the 25-year-old woman. “She is the reason that the system must fix itself.”

Kathleen Miller writes,

Maryland’s House majority leader and his wife improperly received property tax credits worth thousands of dollars over the past several years, even after he co-sponsored a bill designed to crack down on tax cheats.

Gaithersburg Del. Kumar Barve, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the State House, and his lawyer wife, Maureen Quinn, each claimed a different home as their primary residence on tax forms, although Barve’s Web site says they both live in Gaithersburg. According to public records, the move triggered tax credits worth $5,844.88 on Quinn’s Annapolis property and $3,575.13 on Barve’s Gaithersburg home over the past three years.

Update 6: On Channel 9’s website, Scott Rubens posted, Montgomery County Reviews School Fees:

A $1,000 fee for a choral class fired up a parent now fighting the fees charges for classes in Montgomery County Schools. Her oldest son is in college and her youngest attending private school, but Janis Sartucci still wants to end the fee practice she calls unfair.

“You’re talking about a two-tiered school system, one for kids who can afford the extras and one that can’t,” said Sartucci.

Update 5: Kate Ryan has filed another story at WTOP, After pressure from parents, committee looks into school fees:

When parents took their grievances directly to the Montgomery County Board of Education just before school opened, and said the fees were illegal, Weast - and all the members of the school board - remained silent.

But on Wednesday, standing between Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar Barve - who wants to force schools across the state to drop frees - Weast says he was not contradicting earlier behavior.

“No. No. Nothing’s changed. We were already looking at things,” Weast says.

Update 4: Superintendent Weast has responded to the fees controversy in an item on Channel 7’s website, Montgomery Co. Superintendent Addresses School Fees:

“If it needs to be changed, we’ll change it. Where it needs to be changed, we’ll change it. And we’ll deal with it in a very professional way. That won’t hurt the students,” said Weast.

Update 3: Kate Ryan of WTOP also writes on this topic today, Md. House leader to call for ban on school fees:

Barve, who attended Montgomery County schools, says he’ll introduce a bill that will ban public schools from charging fees related to the curriculum.

“I didn’t have to show that my father made under a certain amount of money in order to get into it (calculus class) without paying fee. I had to show that I was able to do calculus. That’s all I had to worry about.”

Regarding the assertion that the the loss of fees will cause problems, he said:

“I don’t buy that argument. I just don’t. The Montgomery County delegation, senators and delegates, have done a terrific job bringing money home for our public school system, not just this year, but in the 18 years I’ve been in office.”

Sounds to me as if Mr. Barve is actually pretty well angered by the situation.

Update 2: Since posting this I’ve noticed that the Gazette’s Montgomery County Editorial this week, Addressing fees in public schools, speaks to this subject:

Advocates for change are on target. There is confusion over what’s mandatory and what’s not when it relates to coursework fees and some charges are open to interpretation – do principals ask or suggest, or do they require and mandate?

An updated opinion from the state’s attorney general might be helpful in guiding school boards since much has changed in the last three decades with school funding, curriculum and the materials needed in classes, from workbooks to graphing calculators. At the very least, the school board must clear up any ambiguity in its fee regulations and take steps needed to apply them consistently in all 199 schools.

Update: An expanded version of this article was posted Wednesday morning.

Marcus Moore writes in the Gazette, Barve to seek ban of school fees:

Del. Kumar P. Barve, the [Maryland] House Majority Leader, said Tuesday that he would file a bill before the upcoming General Assembly session in January to prohibit parents from paying the expenses.

“The purpose of public school education is to allow each child to get a great education regardless of their economic background,” said Barve (D-Dist. 17) of Gaithersburg. “I don’t think it’s wise … to stratify students between those who can afford the fees and those who can’t.”

Also on the topic of school fees, a couple of days ago Daniel de Vise wrote in the Washington Post, Public School Fees Wear On Montgomery Parents:

The fee debate has raised legal questions. In 1987, the Maryland attorney general interpreted the state’s guarantee of free public schools to mean “that everything directly related to a school’s curriculum must be available to all free of charge.” That opinion is key, as no state court has ruled on the legality of fees in the modern era.

Montgomery officials have suggested that schools are merely asking parents to pay the fees, and that all required materials will be provided. But schools seldom characterize fees as optional, in Montgomery or anyplace else.

“The families are led to believe that the fees are mandatory and that the students won’t be able to get their schedules and participate in activities and graduation if they don’t pay them,” said Angela Ciolfi, an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville.

For more on this topic, see my previous post, as well as the Marcus Moore’s story from last week.

Timothy B. Wheeler writes in a somewhat misleadingly headlined item in today’s Baltimore Sun, Senate OKs credit repeal:

The Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill that would repeal a controversial new law requiring Maryland homeowners to apply for a property tax credit they have been getting automatically until now.

But the ultimate prospects for the repeal measure, which comes up for a final vote next week, are murky. The head of the House committee considering a similar bill says she sees no reason to retreat on a Homestead Tax Credit reform intended to weed out scofflaws.

The Senate voted 41 to 4 to repeal the application requirement, which sailed through the General Assembly unanimously last year.

Del. Sheila E. Hixson, chairwoman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said yesterday that she’s “not inclined to do anything” with a similar Homestead Tax Credit bill now pending in her committee.

“I think people overreacted,” said Hixson, a Montgomery County Democrat. But she noted that with five years to apply before losing the credit, there should be ample to sort things out.

Note that it is not too late to write to your delegates opposing the repeal of the registration requirement; if you do, you might want to copy Del. Hixson. For more information on this, you might look at my posting from yesterday.

Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, sent me a link to the following video. Now, the titling over the video is a little more inflammatory than what I would normally be comfortable with, but I thought that the video itself was worth posting so that y’all could see it. There’s a big difference, I think, between reading about these rallies and seeing one.

If you don’t see the video above, try following this link.

I received the following email from Art Brodsky at Public Knowledge:

Hi GB,

I’m writing to ask your help with a project I’m working on with Del. Herman Taylor (who, BTW represents me in Olney). We’re working on a bill to require telecom companies to report to the state what high speed services they provide where. The bill is attached. Taylor is concerned that some parts of the county, even some neighborhoods, have the best in high speed service while some are left on dialup.

We’re looking for consumers to let us know what they have, and what they want, in their neighborhoods. Is there any way you could put out the word on the bill, and direct people to Del. Taylor? His email is Herman.Taylor@house.state.md.us. If you have any questions about the bill, or about what we’re trying to do, please get in touch.

Thanks,

Art

–
Art Brodsky
Communications Director
Public Knowledge
[phone numbers redacted]
1875 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
Suite 650
Washington, D.C. 20009
www.publicknowledge.org

The relevant proposed legislation is House Bill 1256. Given the budget situation in the State and in the various counties in the State, this hardly seems the time to be making it easier for people to cheat on their property taxes. Not that, like, there would be a good time. You can find contact information for your State legislators here.

Timothy B. Wheeler writes in the Baltimore Sun, Officials rethink home tax law:

Last year, convinced that landlords and owners of second homes were claiming tax breaks they didn’t deserve, legislators unanimously passed a law requiring all Maryland homeowners to apply for a valuable tax credit that they’ve gotten more or less automatically until now.

Since December, though, state lawmakers have been peppered with questions and complaints from homeowners about the new application requirement.

Now, they’re considering calling the whole thing off.

[…] in Montgomery County, one of a handful where rental homes have to be registered, officials checked the list a few years ago and found 2,700 improperly claiming the credit.

Statewide, budget analysts have estimated that if 2 percent of property owners are claiming the credit improperly, local governments might be missing out on $10 million a year in property tax revenue. The state, which also levies a small property tax, would miss out on $700,000 a year.

But that 2 percent estimate is just hypothetical, officials acknowledge. The percentage of improperly claimed credits - and the amount of taxes dodged - might be higher.

• Margie Hyslop writes: Local bills await governor’s signature

  Among the bills passed by the General Assembly and needing Gov. Martin O’Malley’s signature to become law are measures that would:

  *Prohibit Montgomery County from levying a special property tax on residents of Gaithersburg, Rockville and Washington Grove for maintenance and use of county parks, recreation facilities and programs.

  Montgomery and Prince George’s County Councils and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which runs the two counties’ parks and programs, would be required to issue a report to the state legislature that analyzes user fees for parks and related services in the counties and municipalities. The municipalities, which operate their own parks and programs, argued that their residents should not be taxed twice.

• Chris Robinson writes: Still time to comment on absentee ballot availability

  The revision would allow absentee ballots for city elections without providing a reason. The Ad Hoc Election Participation Advisory Committee and Board of Supervisors of Elections suggested the revision during a public work session in March.

• Sebastian Montes writes: Goshen homes nearing historic status

  ‘‘When we came through a couple years ago, this place was in ruins,” said Joanne Atay, vice-chairwoman of the Goshen Historical Preservation Society, which has been pushing the county for years to grant the Black and White Inn historical status.

  They marvel at its greatly restored state. But the immediate thrill is overshadowed by the deep relief from their years of work finally bearing fruit: the Black and White Inn, along with three other homes in Goshen, could at last win the protections of historical designation as early as this summer.

  Those four Goshen homes would be the first African-American homes to be individually added to the historical atlas created in 1976.

• Janel Davis writes: Third pedestrian dies on county streets

  This week’s incidents are part of the 92 pedestrian-vehicle collisions — incidents reported by police whether or not a pedestrian is hurt — that occurred in the first 93 days of this year. One bicyclist has also been killed. This year’s numbers do not include incidents in Takoma Park, which reports its incidents separately.

  An extensive report on pedestrian collisions in 2006 has just been posted on the County’s website.

• Margie Hyslop writes: Local legislation spends closing days in limbo

  Much legislation that would let counties, cities and towns make changes is languishing in the final week of the General Assembly’s session, which ends at midnight Monday.

• Melissa J. Brachfeld writes: First phase of extending Crabbs Branch Way OK’d

  The county Planning Board on Thursday approved the first phase of a preliminary plan that would eventually extend Crabbs Branch Way north across Shady Grove Road, where it ends now, to Amity Drive.

Louis Llovio writes in the Maryland Daily Record:

Maryland state senators will take up a measure this week that would allow cities to charge a 1 percent tax on hotel rooms.

If passed, the tax could be levied only by incorporated municipalities that don’t get a share of their county’s occupancy tax. Only cities in six counties — Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Montgomery, Somerset and Washington—would have that option.

This would suggest that, for example, Annapolis would already be getting some of the hotel tax money from Anne Arundel

Montgomery County has a 7 percent tax on hotel rooms but it does not share it with the two cities [Gaithersburg and Rockville], which border on Washington, D.C.

Unsurprisingly, the hotel industry doesn’t think much of the idea, but not everyone is swayed:

“What we’re trying to do is attract businesses and visitors to our hotels,” he said. “This [tax] will dissuade bigger groups from coming.”

“Come on,” said Del. Kumar P. Barve D- Montgomery the bill’s House sponsor. “If a biotech is looking to come to Montgomery County, then a 1 percent charge is not going to stop them from coming.”

Plus, he said, there is a way for Rockville and Gaithersburg hotels to avoid the issue altogether: Have the county share its revenue.

According to the article, the measure has already passed the house.