Delegates question green fund bill

Some ask if imposing new fee is the way to go

As proposed, homeowners would pay an annual fee of a penny per square foot on their homes after the first 1,000 square feet.

The penny-per-square-foot assessment also would apply to hardened surfaces on commercial, industrial and institutional properties, which could get breaks on the fee by taking pollution-reduction measures in buildings or removing pavement.

Advocates say the fee would cost the average homeowner about $10 per year.

A green fund bill this year passed the House but died in the Senate.

Questions on the latest version include how to direct the fees while making sure counties and municipalities can get their share.

‘‘The relationship to the tax and what we’re getting is not 1:1,” said Del. Doyle L. Niemann (D-Dist. 47) of Mount Rainier.

The money generated by fees goes to MDE and MDA and ‘‘does not necessarily go back to areas where it’s taken from,” Niemann said. ‘‘I’m not saying I wouldn’t support this, but let’s be honest, frank. We’re creating a taxing mechanism to generate cash.”

Under the proposal, half of the fees would to go to the Maryland Department of the Environment to distribute to local governments for stormwater management, tree planting and stream restoration. Forty percent would go to the Department of Agriculture for agricultural management. Ten percent would go to the Department of Natural Resources for oyster and wetlands restoration, forest protection and research.

Money that filters through the agencies would address needs of both rural and urban areas, said Kim Coble, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, who called the bill the ‘‘No. 1 priority bill” for environmental groups.

The bill is a ‘‘simple, equitable and fair” way to protect the Bay, Coble said.

Another question regards an exemption from the fee for low-income households. That threshold has yet to be defined.

‘‘I think it would be much more palatable if there was a way to go back and say this is how it’s going to impact the residents of metropolitan D.C. that I represent,” Niemann said.

The fee will be assessed on all Marylanders, said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell.

O’Donnell asked how the fee would apply to rental apartments. The bill says they would be treated as a commercial entity, and the fee would apply to their sidewalks and parking lots, unlike with residences, where the fee applies only to the footprint of the home.

‘‘That just seems like a substantial hit to renters,” said O’Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby.

Del. Barry Glassman suggested that the same thing could be accomplished by increasing the ‘‘flush tax” added to water and sewer bills.

‘‘It’s just a lot of bureaucracy you’re creating to collect an X number of dollars,” said Glassman (R-Dist. 35A) of Churchville.

A green fund in some form has broad support.

The bill also received support from the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association and the Homebuilders Association of Maryland, who opposed this year’s bill because it applied to new construction. The homebuilders feared it would hurt residential development.

‘‘The administration is fully supportive of and committed to a green fund of some type,” MDE Secretary Shari T. Wilson told lawmakers on Wednesday.

The bill is necessary to address the health of the Chesapeake Bay, McIntosh said.

A report by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation detailed 120 fish kills over the course of the summer, with 50 to 20,000 fish dead in each instance; two algae blooms on the Potomac River that killed 300,000 fish; and an increasingly large dead zone where there is not enough dissolved oxygen to sustain life.

The main driver of pollution is development, McIntosh said. ‘‘You’re going to have development, development, development, and it’s something we’ve got to come to grips with,” she said.

The bill still faces opposition.

‘‘If the green fund is funded with a piece of the sales tax or other revenue, I’d say, ‘Me, too’, and give you my blessing,” said David S. Bliden, executive director of the Maryland Association of Counties.

As it’s written now, the bill ‘‘takes county capacity for property tax and undermines it,” Bliden said.

The bill could be a tough sell given the state’s $1.7 billion budget deficit, O’Donnell said.

‘‘In light of the governor requesting a $2 billion package of tax increases including new taxes on rental management services, along comes this,” he said.

Who Would Pay What

*Big-box retailer: $3,250⁄year (325,000 square feet of roof and pavement)

*Fast-food restaurant: $320⁄year (32,000 square feet of roof and parking lot)

*Commercial warehouse: $5,500⁄year (550,000 square feet of roof and pavement)

*Church: $100⁄year (10,000 square feet of roof and parking lot)

*Multi-story office tower: $650⁄year (65,000 square feet of roof and pavement)

*Small office: $50⁄year (5,000 square feet of roof and parking)

*Residential:

— 1,200 square feet, $2⁄year

— 2,400 square feet, $14⁄year

— 4,000 square feet, $30⁄ year

Source: Chesapeake Bay Foundation