A majority of Maryland voters believe they pay too much in taxes, according to a poll released today by the freshman Republican members of the House of Delegates.

In releasing the poll, the delegates decried the tax proposals Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has included in his fiscal 2013 budget, including his plan to cap income tax deductions and phase out or eliminate income tax exemptions for the 20 percent of Marylanders who earn more than $100,000 annually.

“We will not enable the taxaholics here any longer,” said Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Dist. 7) of Perry Hall, who led a press conference in which the delegates released the results of the poll.

The poll asked 808 registered Maryland voters if they believe they and their families pay too much, too little or about the right amount of taxes.

The poll, which was conducted by the Annapolis-based Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies Inc., was commissioned by the 15 freshman GOP delegates.

Statewide, 63 percent of respondents said they believe they pay too much in taxes, while 33 percent believe they pay about the right amount and 4 percent believe they pay too little, according to the poll.

Eighty percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents said they believe they pay too much in taxes, while 20 percent of Republicans, 38 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of independents said they believe the pay about the right amount.

The governor's tax proposals are necessary to close the state's $1 billion structural deficit, said Raquel Guillory, O'Malley's spokeswoman, adding that the governor also has cut spending to address the gap.

“If they have a way of achieving the balance between cuts and revenue increases we'd like to hear it,” she said of the GOP delegates.

Szeliga said the General Assembly's GOP caucus is working on a budget plan, but she offered no specifics.

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, was conducted Jan. 9-15. Of the 808 voters polled, more than half were Democrats, 30 percent Republicans and 13 percent independent.

skelly@gazette.net