Starting today, the MD Comptroller’s office has kicked off Shop Maryland Week, during which qualifying apparel and footwear $100 or less are exempt from the Maryland 6% sales tax. The event is expected to stimulate local retail business and offer an opportunity to pass minor savings onto those attempting to clothe their families.

In an unprecedented move, Baltimore City Council members convened in an emergency session this Monday evening to pass an emergency 6% local sales tax on purchases of all qualifying apparel and footwear totaling $100 or less. The unique bill, which was simultaneously introduced, unanimously sponsored, and voted through all three reader phases in one hour, is expected to net the city around $300,000 over the course of the week.

Councilwoman Helen Holton, who penned the bill on a cocktail napkin early Monday morning, stated “This bill will save literally tens of jobs and preserve the level of public safety and services that the citizens of Baltimore have come to expect and appreciate. The state’s loss over the course of this week will be balanced out by this emergency measure. We’re helping.”

The bill is not without controversy, however. Opponents of the bill – retailers, cashiers and members of Stop The Baltimore City Tax Free Shopping Week Tax – have spent roughly $20M on print campaigns, television ads and radio spots encouraging citizens to leave Baltimore City and shop elsewhere in the state. STBCTFSWT representative Bill Billerson, a former manager at Hecht’s, issued the following statement:

Whether or not this emergency tax passed by the city will have a positive impact on the city’s retail economy remains to be seen; however, for the next week or so those Adidas tennies are going to cost just about the same.

Via Baltimore Slumlord Watch, Baltimore has a new law governing vacant city buildings.

For more on this legislation, or other budget matters, you can read this article from the Baltimore Sun.

Now that the complaints regarding Baltimore City’s budget horrors are behind us, I’d like to explore some of the very realistic, very awesome and totally doable strategies that can be implemented almost immediately (as immediately as government can function), and will serve to aid in the patching of our enormous deficit, while paving the way for a semblance of hope for growth in our city’s future.

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This is a two part rant; Part 1 is mostly complaining. If you don’t like constructive complaining, just wait for part 2!

A few weeks ago after the announcement of the mayor’s proposal to levy multiple fees and fine hikes city wide in an effort to close the most catastrophic budget gap the city has ever seen, I made a brilliant set of suggestions as to how we might avoid such fees and fines, and possibly get Baltimore off of its collective knees for the time being. Welp, those suggestions were not addressed by the mayor or the city council. So I’d like to address these proposals head on.
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Baltimore’s City Council faces one of the most apocalyptic budget crises in …ever, to the tune of a $121 million shortfall. $50 million of the projected gap is expected to be paid for via a slew of fees and increased revenue grabs, many of which absolutely boggle the mind.

But I say the proposed bottle fees, bed fees, bee fees and fee fees aren’t effective enough – and definitely not awesome enough. Here are a few ideas I’ve got kicking around which will undoubtedly and 100% positively fix the budget for this upcoming fiscal year and for all eternity, as well as ensure any official backing them a windfall re-election!
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